Canada’s Caisse cautious on London amid Brexit fears
NEW YORK (Reuters) Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, one of the world biggest real estate investors, is holding off on major investments in London real estate amid uncertainty over the impact of Britain planned exit from the European Union.
FILE Canada Goose sale PHOTO: Michael Sabia, CEO of La Caisse, takes part in a discussion at the Canadian Coalition for Good canada goose clearance sale Governance annual public meeting in Toronto, Ontario, Canada Canada Goose Outlet June 14, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Helgren
Canada second biggest public pension fund has been canada goose an enthusiastic investor in Britain and earlier this year agreed to finance the expansion of Canada Goose Coats On Sale London Heathrow canada goose uk sale airport in which Canada Goose Parka it is one of the biggest shareholders.
Until recently, London was one of the cities canada goose coats on sale the Caisse was most committed to investing in along with New York and Shanghai.
is still certainly canadian goose jacket true for Shanghai, true for New York, Caisse Chief Executive Michael Sabia told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.
However, the Caisse has turned more cautious on Britain capital after Prime Minister Theresa May lost her majority in a parliamentary election in early June, giving her a weaker hand in negotiating Britain exit from the EU.
pretty cautious right now about making meaningful and significant investments in London Canada Goose Jackets real estate, Sabia said.
The Caisse has not seen any impact yet on valuations of its existing real estate portfolio in London canada goose black friday sale which buy canada goose jacket cheap is primarily in high end office buildings. However, Sabia said valuations uk canada goose of less desirable properties were being affected.
question is how far does this go, does it spread? That is why we being careful until we have a better sense.
Sabia also said Britain economy, which initially withstood the shock of the Brexit vote, was starting to hurt.
think you going to see slowing canada goose uk black friday in the UK as the reality of Brexit begins to affect decision making more, I think we already seeing some of that.
The Caisse, which manages public pensions for retirees in Quebec, has a duel mandate both to maximise returns for depositors and cheap Canada Goose support economic growth in canada goose store the Canadian province.
KHAKI PROJECTS Caisse is embarking this year on the construction of the world third biggest public transit system in its home city of Montreal, a groundbreaking project which Canada Goose Online will see the pension fund cheap canada goose uk take responsibility for both the funding and construction.
The canada goose uk outlet C$6 billion project, which has also received funding from the Quebec government and Canada federal government, is seen as a test case by other pension funds which normally uk canada goose outlet prefer to invest in infrastructure that has already been built rather than take on the construction risk through a project.
But competition for assets such as roads, bridges and tunnels that have already been built has intensified as investors look for alternatives to low canada goose factory sale yielding government bonds and volatile equity markets.
Sabia said he believes the canadagoosejacketsalesca canada goose coats Caisse will have an advantage over rivals from developing the skills in house to manage Canada Goose online the construction of new buy canada goose jacket infrastructure and wants to replicate the model in the United States and Europe if it succeeds.
He also argued that much infrastructure development falls between the two, citing Heathrow Airport, where the infrastructure canada goose uk shop is being expanded, labelling them projects.
got to have the capacity to work across that spectrum, to have a full product offering is something that going to differentiate yourself in the market.
The Caisse invests money on behalf of workers and retirees in the province of Quebec canada goose clearance and Sabia admitted that there would be reputational risk if money was lost on the Montreal transit project.
things differently and some degree of innovation always comes with some risk. If those reputational issues are so big in your mind then you condemned to live in the status quo for ever.