Canada's largest pension funds have reported weak private equity performance for 2025, but consultant Alexander Beath argues the poor results may reflect flawed benchmarking rather than actual underperformance. Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan recorded a 5.3% loss on its PE portfolio, whilst Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System saw a 2.5% loss. Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec's buyout portfolio returned just 2.3%, missing its benchmark by over 10 percentage points. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan gained 0.6%, whilst Alberta Investment Management Corporation's PE portfolio returned 3%. Beath contends these pensions measure PE performance against benchmarks heavily weighted towards large-cap stocks, particularly the Magnificent Seven, which saw massive 2025 returns. This makes PE appear worse by comparison, despite industry-wide headwinds from slow dealmaking and valuation declines.

Calgary-based Neo Financial has raised $68.5 million in an oversubscribed funding round led by a syndicate of more than 100 Canadian investors, at a higher valuation than its $362-million Series D round led by China’s Tencent in the fall of 2024. The round drew participation from a broad group of Canadian founders, entrepreneurs, and institutions, […]