Weekly investors roundup: Ontario Teachers' pauses on China private assets; Meiji Yasuda Life sets up VC fund
TOP NEWS OF THE WEEK
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, a Canadian fund that manages C$242.5 billion ($181 billion) of assets, has paused direct investing in private assets in China, according to people familiar with the matter, a Bloomberg report said.
Geopolitical risk is among the reasons behind the pension fund’s move, said one person, who asked not to be identified discussing a sensitive matter.
“Our current focus is on listed securities, building value in our existing portfolio, and investing in public and private assets via fund partners,” rather than direct private investments, according to a statement from Dan Madge, a spokesperson for Ontario Teachers’.
Source: Bloomberg
Japan's Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance and Japanese venture capital firm Global Brain have jointly established Meiji Yasuda Future Innovation Fund L.P. with ¥5 billion ($39 million) of committed capital.
The fund aims to invest in and collaborate with leading startup companies that are developing businesses in the three areas of maintaining and improving people’s health, revitalising local communities and technological innovation that creates new experiences, with the aim of making the products and services offered by Meiji Yasuda Life more attractive and expanding touchpoints with new customers.
Source: Global Brain
GIC and Oak Street closed their previously announced acquisition of STORE Capital, a real estate investment trust, for $32.25 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $15 billion, including assumed debt, according to a February 3 announcement.
STORE Capital owns a large, diversified portfolio that consists of investments in more than 3,000 property locations across the US. The transaction was announced on September 15, 2022.
Source: GIC
OTHER INVESTMENT NEWS
AUSTRALIA
Super fund HESTA is calling for the Australian government to address gender inequities in superannuation and improve financial security for women.
The super fund said in its pre-budget submission that tracking and closing gender gaps remain its top priority.
The majority of HESTA members are low and middle-income working women and are therefore less likely to be able to save outside their super and are more likely to have lower account balances when they retire compared to their male counterparts.
HESTA highlighted that one way to close the gender super gap would be for the government to address the 'motherhood penalty' by paying super as part of the Parental Leave Pay Scheme.
Source: HESTA
CHINA
Morgan Stanley Investment Management received approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to take full control of Morgan Stanley Huaxin Funds.
On completion, Morgan Stanley Investment Management will increase its stake in Morgan Stanley Huaxin Funds from 49% to 100%. Headquartered in Shenzhen, Morgan Stanley Huaxin Funds became a joint venture in June 2008.
The move adds Morgan Stanley Investment Management to the list where foreign asset managers’ joint ventures in China got approved to turn wholly foreign-owned recently, alongside JP Morgan Asset Management, Manulife Investment Management, Neuberger Berman and Fidelity International.
Source: Morgan Stanley Investment Management
KOREA
The National Pension Service (NPS), the world's third-largest pension fund, has underperformed its global peers over the past decade in terms of rate of return.
NPS' fund management arm achieved an average 4.99% annual return for the 10 years until end-2022.
In comparison over the same period, the returns were 9.58% by the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), 7.12% by the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), 6.80% by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), 5.64% by the Netherlands' ABP and 5.30% by Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), according to data from Global SWF.
Source: The Korea Economic Daily
MIDDLE EAST
Sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has invested in Project Black, the inaugural private equity fund managed by a unit of Ariel Investments, the first Black-owned asset management firm in the US.
According to the $445 billion SWF, Project Black has received $1.5 billion in commitments and each investor in the fund has committed funds of between $100 million and $200 million over its seven-year investment period.
Source: Asia Asset Management
SINGAPORE
Temasek participated in a $300 million Series B capital raise for Our Next Energy Inc. (ONE) — a US-based energy storage technology company— which closed recently.
Following the fundraising, the company is valued at $1.2 billion and the round was led by two new investors, real estate-focused venture firm Fifth Wall and Franklin Templeton.
Temasek, Riverstone Holdings and Coatue also joined the round, as did existing investors BMW i Ventures, Volta Energy Technologies and Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
Source: Bloomberg