Investments and Returns

The money accumulated in the construction industry pension fund is invested in a long-term perspective, in different types of instruments (for example, Canadian, American, or foreign shares, bonds, real estate). The investment policy specifies that the funds be distributed in different types of investment. Find out more about the investment policy.

The pension fund ended 2022 with net assets of $28.5 billion, compared to $30.5 billion at the end of 2021, a decrease of $2.0 billion. You can see the details of the results obtained on the page “Returns and interest rates credited.”

Investment policy

An investment committee formed of representatives of the CCQ’s union and employer associations analyzes the returns obtained on the investments. The committee makes recommendations to the CCQ’s board of directors, which amends the investment policy if it deems it necessary.

In December 2022, 45% of the money in the pension fund was invested in bonds and 18% in stocks; other investments represented 37% of the portfolio. The table below shows how the funds were distributed.

Returns and interest rates credited

The money in the pension fund is invested by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) in compliance with the investment policy. The CDPQ calculates the rates of return according to the market value of the funds – that is, the value that would be obtained if all of the funds were sold on a given date.

The rates of return for the three accounts (general, complementary, retirees) for the last five years, taking account of investment-management fees, are the following:

When a participant retires or dies, the value of his or her complementary account must be calculated on the date of retirement or death. The returns obtained by the CDPQ are used to credit interest to the complementary account of each employee. So that the value of the employee’s complementary account can be calculated with the most recent information, this interest is calculated on a monthly basis. Therefore, a different interest rate is given for each month of the year. However, the return obtained by the CDPQ for a given month is known only a few weeks after the end of that month. Given this constraint, the monthly returns obtained are credited with a three-month delay. For example, for the complementary account, the return of 3.28% obtained for December 2023 was known during February 2024 and credited in March 2024.

Returns obtained and interest rates credited to the complementary account

The returns obtained from January to December 2023 give an annual return of 7.02% for the complementary account. Because of the delay, the interest rate credited to the contributions accumulated in the complementary account is 2.66%.

The interest rates used in the sections “Your contributions to the general account” and “Your contributions to the complementary account” of the annual pension statement are those taking account of the three-month delay. 

Interest rates credited to the complementary account in 2024