Reeves to woo Canadian pension funds amid ‘Big Bang’ push
Rachel Reeves is to hold talks with a group of Canadian retirement funds which have invested tens of billions of pounds into the British economy in a bid to convince them to back her “big bang” pension reforms.
Sky News has learnt the chancellor will meet funds including the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), Ontario Municipal Employers Retirement System (OMERS) and Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP) during a brief trip to Toronto next month.
Sources said Ms Reeves would engage with them on her review – launched last weekend – aimed at boosting investment into the UK economy and bolstering individuals’ pension pots.
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The meeting will follow a visit by the chancellor to New York, reported by The Times on Tuesday, which will include talks with financiers including Stephen Schwarzman, boss of the private equity behemoth Blackstone.
Ms Reeves will then fly to Brazil for the G20 summit.
Canada’s vast municipal pension plans have become key players in global finance in recent decades, investing in infrastructure, private equity and other asset classes.
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Between them, they have ploughed billions of pounds into major British infrastructure assets, notably becoming major backers of the privatised water industry.
The travails of the water sector have led to steep losses for those funds along with other investors.
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OMERS, for example, owns a 31% stake in Thames Water, which it effectively wrote off as worthless in May amid the company’s lurch towards the brink of insolvency.
The Treasury declined to comment on Wednesday.