Canadian Investors Lead the Way

Canadian pension funds and firms are leading the charge in pursuit of foreign assets, according to a JLL report. We spoke with one of its authors, Lucy Fletcher, VP of the firm's international capital group. One way is entering into "smart partnerships" abroad—JVs, or more passive investment, with companies that understand a target market. The deals aren't just big one-offs; smart partnering allows Canadian investors the inside scoop on future deals in that particular market, she says. The norm for Canada has traditionally been in the US and Europe, but we're now expanding into Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Southern and Eastern Europe. (The athletes will have something to talk about at the Sochi Olympics.)

The top 10 largest pension funds in Canada—led by the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (above, we snapped its Americas head of real estate investment Peter Ballon with Oxford Properties Group SVP of investments Andrew Trickett in New York)—collectively manage in excess of $800B of assets, making them one of the largest asset pools in the world. In terms of Vancouver, Lucy says there's a lot of private equity and high net worth groups actively seeking yield in the US. And there remains a lot of Chinese capital seeking out development opportunities in Vancouver, she adds. The challenge for foreign investors looking to come to this market is product in the core that rarely trades and has a tight policy in terms of development.