Pension manager Caisse plans to boost investments in private credit and infrastructure, go on hiring spree.

Canada’s second-largest pension manager is planning to boost investments in private credit and infrastructure after reaping big gains in equities in the first half of the year.

The plan for Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec includes adding personnel.

“We’re looking to hire in private debt, and the other area where we’ve hired the most is infrastructure, as we actually plan to nearly double this for the next two to three years,” Caisse chief executive officer Charles Emond said Wednesday in an interview.

Caisse manages $389.7 billion (U.S.) in pension and insurance money on behalf of the Quebec government, which runs its own universal pension plan.

It posted a 5.6 per cent return in the first six months thanks to a 12.1 per cent gain in private and public equities, which offset a small loss in the bond portfolio.

About two-thirds of its fixed income assets are now in private credit, Emond said, a shift that has included real estate loans and credit for infrastructure projects and businesses.

The pension fund said Wednesday that its real assets portfolio, which includes both infrastructure and real estate, rose 4.1 per cent in the first six months of this year, beating its benchmark of 0.4 per cent, mainly on the strength of returns in logistics assets, renewable energy and telecommunications.

Caisse has also changed its approach to stock markets after being too defensive, Emond said.

It’s now trying to find a “better balance” between value, growth and quality stocks, and has added exposure to growth companies, he said.