Don Wilcox of Real Estate News Exchange reports CPP Investments forges $3B logistics JV with Dream Industrial:

CPP Investments is forging a joint venture to acquire up to $3 billion in Canadian last-mile industrial properties with Dream Industrial REIT (DIR-UN-T) and Dream Asset Management Corp., the firms announced Wednesday.

The venture is to have an equity allocation of $1.1 billion and be seeded with an $805-million portfolio of 12 properties from Dream Industrial. The seed properties comprise approximately 3.6 million square feet of space in four major markets, following the investment thesis for the venture.

“The Canadian industrial sector continues to demonstrate resilient demand and meaningful long-term growth drivers, supported by a structurally high need for well-located space as supply chains and logistics continue to evolve,” said Sophie van Oosterom, managing director, head of real estate at CPP Investments, in its announcement.

“By partnering with Dream, a leading institutional asset manager and operating platform, we can efficiently scale our exposure in the Canadian market to capture this growth and drive long-term value for the benefit of CPP contributors and beneficiaries.”

Properties in the seed portfolio comprise a total of 27 buildings in the Greater Toronto Area, Montreal, Calgary, and London, Ont. 

CPP invests $1 billion in the JV

CPP Investments is supplying approximately $1 billion of the capital and will own 90 per cent of the venture, with approximately $100 million from Dream Industrial. This will allow for the expected acquisition of approximately $3 billion of industrial assets including leverage.

The venture will seek properties in Canada’s major markets “offering excellent connectivity to population clusters and arterial transport routes.” It intends to pursue a value-add strategy acquiring assets with material existing vacancy, near-term lease-rollover, larger capital investments, intensification and redevelopment opportunities.

Dream subsidiaries will be the asset manager, and provide property management and leasing services.

“We are excited to partner with CPP Investments to continue to expand our presence in the Canadian industrial market,” said Alex Sannikov, chief executive officer of Dream Industrial, in the release. “This new joint venture is highly complementary to the strategic direction of Dream Industrial and our existing private capital partnerships. We look forward to growing this partnership with CPP Investments.”

The industrial market has been one of Canada's most robust commercial real estate investment sectors in recent years, and although absorption has slowed somewhat over the past few quarters, well-located and modern facilities have continued to lease up and perform well. 

This also offers CPP Investments another major Canadian venture, as pressure has mounted on institutional investors to further support home-grown business in the wake of increased cross-border trade tensions and tariffs with the U.S.

Partnership to lift Dream above $30B in AUM

In its own release, Dream noted average in-place and committed base rent for properties in the initial portfolio was approximately $11 per square foot as at the end of Q3, with a weighted average lease term of approximately three years.

The properties will be sold into the venture unencumbered, in two tranches during the first six months of 2026.

“This new venture with one of the largest and most respected institutional investors globally is a testament to the strength of our platform, our reputation in the sector, and our asset and property management capabilities,” Dream’s founder and chief responsible officer Michael Cooper said in the announcement. 

“With this partnership, we expect to surpass $30 billion of assets under management and increase our growth rate as we continue to build out our institutional asset management business.”

The partners were advised by TD Securities, RBC Capital Markets, Colliers Capital Markets and CBRE. Stikeman Elliott LLP and King & Spalding LLP provided legal advice.

This is not Dream's first major partnership, including within the industrial sector where it is also involved in the Dream Summit Industrial LP, with Singapore's sovereign wealth manager GIC. 

Also in the release, Dream Industrial announced the suspension of its dividend reinvestment program, opting to pay all distributions in cash.

About CPP Investments, Dream Industrial and Dream

CPP Investments manages the Canada Pension Plan Fund for over 22 million contributors and beneficiaries. It invests globally in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure, fixed income and alternative strategies including in partnership with funds. 

Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Hong Kong, London, Mumbai, New York City, San Francisco, São Paulo and Sydney, CPP Investments is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm’s length from governments. As of Sept. 30, the fund totalled $777.5 billion.

Dream Industrial is an owner, manager, and operator of a global portfolio, with interests in 340 industrial assets (552 buildings) totalling approximately 73.2 million square feet of gross leasable area in markets across Canada, Europe and the U.S.

Dream Asset Management is the institutional asset management arm of Dream Unlimited Corp. (DRM-T), providing investment and asset management services to its publicly listed trusts and institutional partners. As of Sept. 30, Dream managed $28 billion of assets across four TSX-listed entities, private funds and numerous private partnerships.

Dream provides real estate development, management, investment and operational services across North America and Europe.

Greg Dool of PERE also reports CPP Investments seeds Canadian industrial JV with $727m commitment:

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has committed C$1 billion ($727 million; €618 million) to seed a joint venture focused on acquiring last-mile industrial assets across its home country.

Canada’s largest institutional real estate investor is partnering in the venture with Toronto-listed Dream Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust and its private investment arm, Dream Asset Management, the firms said Wednesday. Dream Industrial is committing an additional C$100 million of its own to the JV, which will have approximately C$3 billion in buying power with leverage.

Coinciding with the launch, Dream Industrial has agreed to sell a 12-asset, 3.6 million-square-foot portfolio spanning Alberta, Ontario and Quebec to the venture from its balance sheet for C$805 million. By square footage, those assets represented about 17.5 percent of Dream Industrial’s overall REIT portfolio as of September 30.

In a Wednesday statement to shareholders viewed by PERE, Dream Industrial called that price “a significant premium” relative to the current value of its shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The REIT’s shares closed at C$12.19 on Tuesday evening, the day before the deal was announced, whereas the net asset value of its portfolio stood at C$16.74 per unit as of September 30. According to Dream Industrial, the JV’s C$805 purchase price values the seed assets “slightly above” the current NAV for that portion of the portfolio, representing a premium of more than 37 percent compared with its share price.

By square footage, 37 percent of the seed portfolio is in the Greater Toronto area and another 36 percent in Montreal, with the rest located in Calgary and London, Ontario. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2026.

CPP will own 90 percent of the venture, while Dream Industrial will hold the other 10 percent and act as property manager for its existing and future assets. Dream Asset Management will serve as the JV’s asset manager.

Sophie van Oosterom, managing director and head of real estate for CPP, emphasized “resilient demand and meaningful long-term growth drivers” for logistics and supply chain-oriented Canadian industrial property. By partnering with Dream, which is both an asset manager and operating platform, CPP can “efficiently scale our exposure in the Canadian [industrial] market to capture this growth,” she said in the statement.

CPP managed C$777.5 billion of assets globally as of September 30, with approximately 6.8 percent of that portfolio in private real estate as of March 31, the most recent data available for allocations by asset class. As head of real estate since joining CPP at the start of 2025, van Oosterom has sought to adopt a more risk-on approach in which the asset class contributes more to the fund’s total returns, which she portrayed as a change in strategy from the prior two decades, during which the asset class was primarily a source of diversification and protection against volatility.

Describing this shift last month at the PERE America Forum in New York, van Oosterom said CPP would be open to investing with new partners, particularly for opportunities in “very operational and specialized strategies.”

“We need to look around the corner as well and say, which entrepreneurs are out there that we can back or support to grow those portfolios into the institutionalized platforms that we think we can create value in,” she said.

Earlier today, CPP Investments issued this press release on its $3 billion joint venture with Dream Industrial REIT and Dream Asset Management:

Transaction Highlights  

• CPP Investments, Dream Industrial and Dream Asset Management Corporation form new Canadian industrial Joint Venture, with $1.1 billion of allocated equity capital
• The Joint Venture is expected to have approximately $3 billion of acquisition capacity, including leverage, and will target last-mile industrial assets in major Canadian markets
• The Joint Venture has agreed to acquire a 3.6 million square foot Initial Portfolio from Dream Industrial REIT for over $800 million

Toronto, Ontario, December 17, 2025 — Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (“CPP Investments”), Dream Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX: DIR.UN) (“Dream Industrial”), and Dream Asset Management Corporation (“Dream”) (collectively, the “Partners”) today announced the formation of a joint venture (the “Joint Venture”) to acquire last-mile industrial properties in major markets across Canada.

The Partners have allocated $1.1 billion of equity capital, including $1.0 billion from CPP Investments (90%) and $0.1 billion from Dream Industrial (10%), allowing for the expected acquisition of approximately $3.0 billion of industrial assets strategically located in Canada’s major markets, offering excellent connectivity to population clusters and arterial transport routes.

A subsidiary of Dream will be the asset manager for the Joint Venture and a subsidiary of Dream Industrial will provide property management and leasing services.

As part of this Joint Venture, the Partners have agreed to acquire a portfolio of 12 Canadian industrial assets totaling 3.6 million square feet across Ontario, Quebec, and Alberta (the “Initial Portfolio”) from Dream Industrial. The Joint Venture is acquiring the Initial Portfolio for a purchase price of $805 million.

“The Canadian industrial sector continues to demonstrate resilient demand and meaningful long-term growth drivers, supported by a structurally high need for well-located space as supply chains and logistics continue to evolve,” said Sophie van Oosterom, Managing Director, Head of Real Estate at CPP Investments. “By partnering with Dream, a leading institutional asset manager and operating platform, we can efficiently scale our exposure in the Canadian market to capture this growth and drive long-term value for the benefit of CPP contributors and beneficiaries.”

“We are excited to partner with CPP Investments to continue to expand our presence in the Canadian industrial market,” said Alex Sannikov, Chief Executive Officer of Dream Industrial REIT. “This new Joint Venture is highly complementary to the strategic direction of Dream Industrial and our existing private capital partnerships. We look forward to growing this partnership with CPP Investments.”

“This new venture with one of the largest and most respected institutional investors globally is a testament to the strength of our platform, our reputation in the sector, and our asset and property management capabilities,” said Michael Cooper, founder and Chief Responsible Officer of Dream. “With this partnership, we expect to surpass $30 billion of assets under management and increase our growth rate as we continue to build out our institutional asset management business.”

The Partners were advised by TD Securities, RBC Capital Markets, Colliers Capital Markets and CBRE. Stikeman Elliot LLP and King & Spalding LLP provided legal advice in connection with establishing the Joint Venture.

About CPP Investments

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments™) is a professional investment management organization that manages the Canada Pension Plan Fund in the best interest of the more than 22 million contributors and beneficiaries. In order to build diversified portfolios of assets, we make investments around the world in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure, fixed income and alternative strategies including in partnership with funds. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Hong Kong, London, Mumbai, New York City, San Francisco, São Paulo and Sydney, CPP Investments is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm’s length from governments. At September 30, 2025, the Fund totaled C$777.5 billion. For more information, please visit www.cppinvestments.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram or on X @CPPInvestments. 

About Dream Industrial Real Estate Investment Trust

Dream Industrial is an owner, manager, and operator of a global portfolio of well-located industrial properties. As at September 30, 2025, Dream Industrial has an interest in and manages a portfolio comprising 340 industrial assets (552 buildings) totaling approximately 73.2 million square feet of gross leasable area in key markets across Canada, Europe, and the U.S. Dream Industrial’s objective is to deliver strong total returns to its unitholders through secure distributions and growth in net asset value and cash flow per unit, underpinned by its high-quality portfolio and investment-grade balance sheet. Dream Industrial is an unincorporated, open-ended real estate investment trust. For more information, please visit www.dreamindustrialreit.ca.

About Dream Asset Management Corporation

Dream Asset Management is the institutional asset management arm of Dream Unlimited Corp. (TSX: DRM) (“Dream Unlimited”) providing investment and asset management services to its publicly listed trusts and institutional partners. As at September 30, 2025, Dream manages $28 billion of assets across four Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”) listed entities, private funds and numerous private partnerships. Dream is a leading provider of real estate development, management, investment, and operational services across North America and Europe. For more information, please visit www.dream.ca.

This is a major transaction for CPP Investments, Dream Industrial REIT and Dream Asset Management Corporation.

I've never heard of Dream Industrial REIT but I'm not a big follower of REITs in general.

Looking at Dream's website however, you can't help but be impressed and this is the second joint venture for them with a major institutional partner having partnered up with GIC and Summit on another venture two years ago.

Recall, Sophie van Oosterom, Managing Director, Head of Real Estate at CPP Investments was hired a little over a year ago from Schroders Capital to take over the organization's massive real estate portfolio.

Her focus is on partnerships that offer unique strategies or that are best-in-class at areas they cover and this joint venture fits that criteria.

As she states in the press release:

“By partnering with Dream, a leading institutional asset manager and operating platform, we can efficiently scale our exposure in the Canadian market to capture this growth and drive long-term value for the benefit of CPP contributors and beneficiaries.” 

Dream's Canadian logistics properties are mostly in Toronto, Montreal and Calgary and even though logistics properties are fully valued, these are prized assets that CPP Investments can hold for many years without taking any currency risk (since they're right there in Canada). 

Clearly they did their due diligence on Dream and were impressed or else they wouldn't commit $1 billion equity, $3 billion in total to this JV.

Are there risks? Sure, the Canadian economy is teetering on a recession despite what you see in the data from Stats Canada (don't get me started) but these are assets they will hold through a few cycles so I'm not worried about that.

Canada's population is growing and more people will end up buying more stuff so these logistics properties will always be in high demand. 

Below, Alexander Sannikov, CEO of Dream Industrial REIT joins BNN Bloomberg to discuss the industrial real estate landscape. He says while rents are cheaper in Europe there is still room to run (interview from May 2024, listen to his comments on Canada).

James Bradshaw of the Globe and Mail reports AIMCo names Ray Gilmour as permanent CEO:

Alberta Investment Management Corp. has made Ray Gilmour its permanent chief executive officer, removing the interim tag from the job he took more than a year ago when the province overhauled the pension fund manager’s senior ranks.

AIMCo’s board of directors appointed Mr. Gilmour as CEO effective immediately, according to an announcement released on Tuesday. His performance had been reviewed by a third party.

Mr. Gilmour was an unconventional choice to lead the $179.6-billion public-sector pension fund manager, which invests retirement savings for pension, endowment, insurance and government clients in Alberta. 

He was hand-picked by the provincial government to serve as interim CEO in November, 2024, after Finance Minister Nate Horner dismissed AIMCo’s board of directors, previous CEO Evan Siddall and other top executives.

Since then, Mr. Gilmour has helped steady AIMCo after a period of tumultuous change, and revamped the pension fund manager’s senior executive team. That included promoting Justin Lord to chief investment officer earlier this year.

In the first six months of 2025, AIMCo earned a 2-per-cent return on its investments during a volatile start to the year for markets, which were unsettled by shifting tariff policies.

“The board has complete confidence in Ray’s clear management expertise and proven ability to excel, both as leader of this organization and as an effective steward of the funds AIMCo manages on behalf of its clients,” board chair Stephen Harper said in a news release.

AIMCo’s board hired “an independent third-party organization to conduct a comprehensive review of Ray’s performance during his tenure as Interim CEO, including interviews with key stakeholders such as clients, members of the Executive Committee, and others across AIMCo,” spokesperson Sabrina Bhangoo said in an e-mail.

Mr. Gilmour has deep experience as a public servant. He held senior roles under several Alberta premiers, including a five-year stint as deputy minister of the province’s executive council and also a deputy role in its finance department. He spent an earlier part of his career in the banking industry.

But he arrived to lead AIMCo without the senior-level experience in investing and finance that would by typical for the CEO of a major pension fund manager. And his appointment, combined with the province’s decision to appoint the province’s deputy finance minister as a permanent member of AIMCo’s board, raised questions about whether the arm’s length pension fund manager was being drawn closer to government.

In a letter published by the province last summer, Mr. Horner laid out a “renewed mandate” for AIMCo, affirming that it “will operate independently and at arm’s length from the Government of Alberta.”

From the outset, people close to AIMCo and the Alberta government expected Mr. Gilmour to stay put, serving as a steady hand with a mandate to keep costs under control and boost satisfaction among pension plan clients.

“Over the past year, I have seen firsthand that the AIMCo team is talented and committed to excellence, and that it shares a deep sense of purpose to deliver long-term value for our clients,” Mr. Gilmour said in a statement.

Since Mr. Gilmour started at AIMCo, former private equity head Peter Teti was named global head of private assets. The pension fund manager also hired John Walsh as chief legal officer and promoted Janice Guzzo to chief human resources officer earlier this year.

Three board members who were previously dismissed by the province returned to form a smaller, revamped board chaired by Mr. Harper: private-equity executive Jason Montemurro, real estate investor Bob Dhillon and former Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan CEO Jim Keohane. AIMCo also added its former CIO Sandra Lau to the board.

Barbara Shecter of the National Post also reports AIMCo names former senior bureaucrat Ray Gilmour as permanent CEO:

Former senior bureaucrat Ray Gilmour has been named chief executive of Alberta Investment Management Corp.

Gilmour, Alberta’s former deputy minister of executive council, was installed as interim CEO of AIMCo on Nov. 8 last year, the day after the Alberta government jettisoned the entire board of the pension and endowment fund and four members of the management team, including then-CEO Evan Siddall.

Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner blamed the shakeup on rising costs without commensurate returns for the fund, which was set up to operate at arms-length from government and manages pensions for a range of clients including teachers, municipal employees and judges. But insiders said there was growing friction over decisions made by the management team and board, including those involving the establishment of international offices and energy transition funds.

Shortly after Gilmour was appointed interim CEO a little over a year ago, the Alberta government named former prime minister Stephen Harper as AIMCo’s chair and established a permanent unpaid board seat to be filled by the province’s deputy minister of treasury board and finance. The board position was added “to ensure more consistent communications between AIMCo and Alberta’s government.”

Before Gilmour joined AIMCo, he was Alberta’s deputy minister of executive council for more than five years and held other senior positions in government including deputy minister roles in finance, intergovernmental relations and infrastructure.

Prior to joining the Alberta government, he worked in the banking and financial services industry for 15 years. A chartered professional accountant by training, Gilmour also has a masters of business administration from the University of Saskatchewan.

“The board has complete confidence in Ray’s clear management expertise and proven ability to excel, both as leader of this organization and as an effective steward of the funds AIMCo manages on behalf of its clients,” Harper said in a statement.

When Harper was appointed chair a little over a year ago, three of AIMCo’s 10 former directors re-joined the scaled-down board.

At the time, pension and governance professionals expected that replacing the interim CEO would be a top priority for the reconstituted board and its chair to re-establish confidence in the arms-length model. But some also noted that it could be a challenge to recruit a skilled investment management professional in the wake of the government’s shock reorganization of AIMCo.

Earlier today, AIMCo's Board issued a press release stating they appointed Ray Gilmour as permanent CEO, effective immediately:

Edmonton – Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) is pleased to announce that its Board of Directors has appointed Ray Gilmour as the organization’s Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Gilmour has been fulfilling the role on an interim basis since November 8, 2024.

“The Board has complete confidence in Ray’s clear management expertise and proven ability to excel, both as leader of this organization and as an effective steward of the funds AIMCo manages on behalf of its clients,” said The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Chair, AIMCo Board of Directors. “Together with Ray, the Board is committed to ensuring that AIMCo remains an admired institution that will continue to serve the best interests of Albertans for decades to come.”

“Over the past year, I have seen firsthand that the AIMCo team is talented and committed to excellence, and that it shares a deep sense of purpose to deliver long-term value for our clients,” said Mr. Gilmour. “I am proud to serve as AIMCo’s CEO as we continue to grow and evolve in ways that enhance our ability to deliver for all of our stakeholders.”

Prior to joining AIMCo, Mr. Gilmour served as Alberta’s Deputy Minister of Executive Council for more than five years. He has also held senior positions in the Alberta government, including Deputy Minister roles in Finance, Intergovernmental Relations, and Infrastructure. Prior to these roles in government, Mr. Gilmour worked in the banking and financial services industry for 15 years. Mr. Gilmour has a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Saskatchewan. In addition, he is a Chartered Professional Accountant and a graduate of the Institute of Corporate Directors Program.

About Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo)

AIMCo is one of Canada’s largest and most diversified institutional investment managers with more than C$182 billion of assets under management as at June 30, 2025. AIMCo invests globally on behalf of pension, endowment, insurance and government funds in the Province of Alberta. With offices in Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, London and Luxembourg, our more than 200 investment professionals bring deep expertise in a range of sectors, geographies and industries.

 Alright, let me get right to it.

First, congratulations to Ray Gilmour, he's now officially the permanent CEO of AIMCo with a mandate that lasts five years and is renewable if he does a satisfactory job. 

Second, I don't think anyone is surprised that Ray Gilmour was made permanent CEO.

In my opinion, this was in the works from the get-go after Alberta's finance minister Nate Horner dismissed former CEO Evan Siddall, some senior executives and the entire board of directors.

Of course, Mr. Horner and the Board reiterated the organization's independence and there was a trial run for Mr. Gilmour which he passed. 

Note this passage which was conveyed to James Bradshaw of the Globe and Mail:

AIMCo’s board hired “an independent third-party organization to conduct a comprehensive review of Ray’s performance during his tenure as Interim CEO, including interviews with key stakeholders such as clients, members of the Executive Committee, and others across AIMCo,” spokesperson Sabrina Bhangoo said in an e-mail.  

Why is this passage important? Well, it reaffirms the Board has the power to fire and hire the CEO and it did its job hiring a third party to conduct a comprehensive review Mr. Gilmour's performance  including interviews with key stakeholders such as clients, members of the Executive Committee, and others across AIMCo.

They basically wanted to make sure he's up for the job and the huge responsibility it carries and they wanted to make sure the public knows it was they and not the government of Alberta that made him permanent CEO.

Of course, the optics don't look good and critics will claim this is "backdoor government interference".

Fair enough but I think there was another problem here.

Who in their right mind would take the job of CEO at AIMCo after the purging and compensation was cut?

Mr. Gilmour just got a huge raise but others wouldn't move to Edmonton so easily under difficult circumstances and knowing very well what happened there.

To my knowledge, there were no other internal or external candidates reviewed for the top job at AIMCo and this too doesn't pass the smell test.

In other words, it confirms Gilmour was and remains Nate Horner's top choice and I'm sure Danielle Smith's as well.

Will the Alberta's government introduce a dual mandate like the one La Caisse has in Quebec?

Well, if that's the direction they're headed, Ray Gilmour is the best choice to lead AIMCo.

I also want to be fair here because thus far Mr. Gilmour has done a decent job and he obviously has the support of AIMCo's clients and that is the critical bit I want to emphasize here.

AIMCo manages the assets of many clients including Alberta's teachers and the CEO has to manage all these relationships very diplomatically. 

In that regard, maybe Ray Gilmour is doing a much better job than his predecessors.

We shall see, I think he deserves a fair shot and I remind my readers that not every CEO of a major Canadian pension fund comes from the investment world.

Michael Sabia came from Bell and prior to that he was also a high level bureaucrat in Ottawa.

Sabia did a decent job heading up the Caisse, reinforced governance, introduced gender equality at all levels and managed to kick-start the REM which is now operational and the envy of most North American cities (minus the glitches here and there).

But I told Sabia at a private party we both attended after he left the Caisse that he was damn lucky he never had to face a severe financial crisis and he wiped his eyebrow and said "PHEW!".

The test of any CEO in the investment world isn't when everything is melting up, it's when it hits the fan and you have shore up the troops and perform under very difficult and tough circumstances.

The late Harvard economist John Kenneth Galbraith once famously noted: "In a bull market, everyone is a financial genius."

Don't forget that, and in that sense I'm glad Ray Gilmour has a solid and experienced investment team headed up by CIO Justin Lord. He will be leaning heavily on them when the going gets tough.

Lastly, if Ray Gilmour succeeds and AIMCo continues to perform well over the long run, it could represent an existential threat to the other Maple 8 funds because politicians might be asking tough questions on compensation and more (I doubt it but you never know).

Below,Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is now among 21 MLAs in the province facing a recall petition — which represents almost a quarter of those sitting in the Alberta Legislature. The CBC’s Hilary Johnstone explains the next steps in the recall process.

I didn't know there were so many crazy lefties in Alberta, quite surprising to me. I'm on record stating Premier Smith is the best politician in the country by a mile and wonder which interest groups (Canadian or American) are behind these recall petitions.

Also, CNBC’s “Closing Bell” team discusses the outlook for markets, U.S. economy and more with Liz Thomas of SoFi, Lauren Goodwin of New York Life Investments and Ellen Zentner of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.

Today, OMERS announced it has completed a refinancing for its stake in Exolum:

December 15, 2025 – OMERS Infrastructure is pleased to announce the successful close of €770 million in new debt facilities at Borealis Spain Parent B.V., the holding company for OMERS ~25% stake in Exolum.

Exolum is a Spanish-headquartered global energy logistics infrastructure company providing specialised solutions to support the energy transition in which OMERS has been directly invested since 2016. The company owns the transmission pipeline network spanning 4,000km in Spain and operates a 2,000km pipeline network in the UK. Exolum also owns 68 storage terminals with a total capacity of 11+ million cbm and serves over 48 airports worldwide – including Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Lima in Peru, and Charles de Gaulle – making it a global leader in aviation fuel infrastructure.

Michael Hill, Executive Vice President and Global Head of OMERS Infrastructure, said: “The scale, pricing, and the engagement of both bank and private placement lenders in this process demonstrate the strong fundamentals and quality of the Exolum investment, as well as the expertise of our team. The offering was oversubscribed, with lenders recognizing the company’s robust growth, effective energy transition diversification strategy, and the strength of its leadership. We extend our appreciation to everyone involved and thank Exolum’s management for their valuable support throughout this process."

This announcement follows the recent close of an inaugural senior unsecured bond issuance totalling C$1.5 billion for OMERS holding in Bruce Power, a company in Ontario in which OMERS has been directly invested since 2003. 

OMERS has great infrastructure assets so it doesn't surprise me that this refinancing for its stake in Exolum went well.

They refinance to allow these companies to grow their operations.

It should be noted that back in June, OMERS Infrastructure hired Sara Petrov as its new Managing Director, Debt Capital Markets:

June 2, 2025 – OMERS Infrastructure today announced that it has hired Sara Petrov as its new Managing Director, Debt Capital Markets. Sara will have global responsibility for developing and managing OMERS Infrastructure’s financing partner relationships and supporting the global investments teams in financing activities at the initial acquisition and throughout each portfolio company’s growth and lifecycle. Originally from Toronto, Sara has since moved to New York and will continue to be based there in her new role.

Michael Hill, Executive Vice President & Global Head of OMERS Infrastructure, said: “Our investment teams raise and refinance over $4B of debt across our portfolio companies and for new investments annually. The size and number of our debt facilities, the complexity and breadth of our businesses, and the increasing opportunity we see to create value through optimal capital structuring and differentiated lender relationships has emphasized the importance of this new role at OMERS Infrastructure. Sara has a deep understanding of the debt capital markets, having had over 15 years of experience in the industry and we’re thrilled to welcome her to the team.”

 Fair to say Sara and her team hit the ground running

 As far as Exolum, it has an interesting history and ownership structure:

The ownership structure of Exolum Corporation, S.A., parent company of the Exolum Group, is regulated by Royal Decree-Act 6/2000 of 23 June, which provides that no natural or legal person may directly or indirectly hold more than 25% of the company’s capital or voting rights. It also provides that the sum of direct or indirect stakes held by shareholders with a refining capacity in Spain shall not exceed 45%.

IMCO took over the assets of Workplace Safety Insurance Board (WSIB), so you have two large Canadian pension funds that own 35% of the shares.

It's a huge company that provides the following services:

• Liquid product logistics: We offer state-of-the-art terminals, close to logistics and transport hubs, for the storage of bulk liquids and gases.
• Sustainable energies: We develop new business areas around decarbonisation, circularity and innovation, aligned with the energy transition.
• Aviation We are a global leader in independent aviation logistics. We want to continue to grow, building and operating infrastructure at airports around the world.
• Additional services: At Exolum we take care of every detail of the product, from its composition to its delivery. Our quality, metrology and additivation services guarantee safety, traceability and regulatory compliance at every stage of the process.

The company operates in 10 countries and its goal is to continue to expand globally, offering innovative and sustainable solutions by building strategic alliances and developing state-of-the-art infrastructures.

In order to do this properly, it needs to refinance its operations and raise debt when it makes sense to tap debt markets.

Again, not surprised the latest offering was oversubscribed, it tells you how much global investors value this company and its operations. 

Below, a clip going over Exolum's operations and how it makes the world a better place. Incredible infrastructure asset owned by same of the world's best global investors.

Sean Conlon and Pia Singh of CNBC report the S&P 500 retreats from record Friday, closes down for week as investors rush out of AI trade:

U.S. equities pulled back on Friday as investors continued to exit technology stocks and move into value areas of the market.

The S&P 500 fell 1.07% to end the day at 6,827.41, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 1.69% to 23,195.17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average finished down 245.96 points, or 0.51%, to settle at 48,458.05 after scoring a new intraday all-time high earlier in the session. The Russell 2000 index slid 1.51% to 2,551.46 but had also hit a fresh all-time high during the trading day.

The broad market index and tech-heavy Nasdaq were bogged down by a more than 11% drop in Broadcom, which some analysts think is because of margin compression worries. That’s even after the company beat fourth-quarter expectations and gave a strong forecast for the current quarter, saying artificial intelligence chip sales look to double.

As the AI trade faced more pressure, with names like AMD, Palantir Technologies and Micron seeing some losses alongside Broadcom, stocks in other areas of the market such as financials, health care and industrials received a bit of a boost. In those sectors, Visa and Mastercard as well as UnitedHealth Group and GE Aerospace were winners.

“Today is a value-outperforms-growth day,” said Jed Ellerbroek, portfolio manager at Argent Capital Management. “Investors are definitely skittish as it relates to AI — not outright pessimistic, but just kind of, I think, cautious and nervous and hesitant.”

Friday’s action marked another day of the rotation trade, as investors on Thursday poured into cyclical stocks that are considered more sensitive to the economy while taking profits in growth-oriented names tied to the AI trade. The move comes after the Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut interest rates for the third time this year.

A rise in shares of Visa and UnitedHealth, along with others such as Nike, propelled the Dow to close at a record in the prior session. The S&P 500 notched a new closing high as well, while the Nasdaq ended the day lower as high-flying tech stocks such as Alphabet and Nvidia dropped.

“The same things don’t outperform in markets month after month after month for forever, so this is normal,” Ellerbroek also said. “It’s to be expected, but it is unwarranted.”

With the day’s losses, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq scored a losing week, with the former down 0.6% and the latter losing 1.6%. The 30-stock Dow posted gains, however, up 1.1% on the week. Small-capitalization companies have outperformed their larger counterparts, meanwhile, with the Russell 2000 up 1.2% this week after notching fresh all-time and closing highs on Thursday. 

It wasn't a good week for megacap tech shares as shares of Oracle (ORCL) and Broadcom (AVGO) sold off after earnings, the former more than the latter.

In fact, Oracle's stock is down 16% this month while Broadcom's is up 1%  in December despite getting whacked 11% today.

More broadly, megacap tech darlings are struggling lately as are other AI related stocks but the market has done well, setting a record.

How can this be? Well, if you look at year-to-date performance, Communication Services and Technology shares have outperformed all other sectors:

But over the past month, a different picture emerges: 

 As you can see, the megacap tech rally broadened out to reach Financials, Industrials, Healthcare and Staples.

I must admit, I was expecting more FOMO and concentration risk going into the stretch so I'm pleasantly surprised this market has broadened and other sectors are doing the heavy lifting.

Have a look at the stocks making new highs today, it's definitely not tech shares powering the S&P 500 higher.

That's why I called this comment the Ex-Mag7+ Santa Claus Rally, it isn't the usual suspects driving the market higher, it's quality, blue chip value stocks into the final stretch of the year.

Will this continue over the next two weeks and into the new year? A lot of big institutions are underweight Mag-7 so it's possible but in these markets, things can change fast from one month to another, or from one week to another!

But clearly there's no FOMO trade chasing Mag-7+ stocks higher, that never materialized.

All I can say is you need to look at all stocks on a stock by stock basis and assess downside risk.

For example, Oracle sold off this week after a disappointing earnings report. When I look at the weekly 5-year chart, I ask myself, can it go back below its exponential 200-week moving average of  $148 if the AI trade really blows up?:

Sure it can, highly unlikely but I'm not ruling it out completely. 

It can also stabilize around these levels ($185-$200) and head back over its 10-week exponential moving average of $227 and resume an uptrend (not likely in short run).

Where am I going with all this? Don't get flustered when high beta stocks sell off, know your levels, position accordingly, and add when momentum is going your way. 

On Broadcom, despite today's 11% smackdown, the chart remains extremely bullish, for now: 

Alright, let me end it there and wish everyone a nice weekend.

Below, Ed Yardeni, Yardeni Research president, joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the latest market trends, why he's moving away from being overweight on Magnificent 7 stocks, sectors he's in favor of, the Fed's interest rate outlook, and more.

Also, Jeremy Siegel, Wharton professor emeritus and WisdomTree chief economist, joins 'Closing Bell' to discuss what's been happening in equity markets around AI stocks.

Third, Aswath Damodaran, NYU professor, joins 'Closing Bell' to discuss the professor's thoughts on megacap tech stocks, if the markets are bifurcated and much more.

Fourth, The 'Fast Money' traders talk about a report stating Oracle is delaying data centers.

Lastly, Craig Johnson, Piper Sandler chief market technician, and Matt Orton, Raymon James chief market strategist, joins 'Power Lunch' to discuss the recent market rotation, how sustainable the market rotation is and much more.

Nadia Tuck of European Pensions reports NBIM 'all-in on AI' as it publishes new strategy:

Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) has said it is “all-in on artificial intelligence (AI)” in its updated strategy for 2026-2028.

NBIM, which is responsible for the management of the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), outlines five key areas in its Strategy 2028 – performance, technology, operational robustness, people and communications.

Within its technology section, the investment manager said it will be “at the forefront of applying responsible AI in asset management”.

“Our target is to cut manual processes in half so our people can focus on what matters most – generating returns,” it stated.

As part of this, it plans to create digital colleagues for routine tasks while developing AI solutions that execute complex analytical tasks and provide insights to enhance decision-making.

“We will continue automation of our real asset investment processes and use AI tools to reduce manual burdens, speed up operations, and reduce the risk of potential errors. We will work with our real asset partners to modernise industry processes.

“Data is one of our core assets and we will make our data platform more user- and AI-friendly,” it said.

However, it stressed that it recognises that “success depends on teamwork not technology alone”.

“Technology will augment our judgment, not replace it,” NBIM stated.

The new strategy builds on the revised plan for 2023-2025 and uses the fund’s attributes, such as its long-term investment horizon, scale, people, technology and data, as its starting point.

NBIM CEO, Nicolai Tangen, said the strategy sets out “how we will work to become the best and most respected large investment fund in the world”.

Regarding investment, the fund’s goal is to maximise returns after costs.

Its strategy lists its three main investment strategies: market exposure, security selection, and fund allocation, which it pursues across equities, fixed income, and real asset management.

NBIM said it will be honest about “what works and what does not”.

“We will implement systematic debriefs to learn from our successes and failures. We will build a culture where people feel safe to go against the crowd and create mechanisms to challenge consensus thinking.

“Good investment decisions depend on good information. By further integrating risk and performance data into our investment processes, we aim to make better decisions,” it stated.

It will continue developing its Investment Simulator to enhance investment decisions and provide feedback to portfolio managers.

“This tool will make portfolio managers increasingly aware of their behavioural strengths and weaknesses so they better incorporate these in their decision-making,” it stated. 

Evilyn Lou of PERE also reports NBIM reveals three-pat plan to overhaul real estate strategy:

Norges Bank Investment Management – which manages the assets of the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global – is implementing a three-pronged approach to revamp its real estate strategy in a bid to improve returns generated by the asset class.

“Real estate has changed a lot in certainly the last five years in pretty foundational ways,” said global head of real estate Alex Knapp, speaking with PERE at the fund’s London office last week. “And so I think it was time to do a material update to the real estate strategy for the fund.”

Although the update is part of a broader 2026-2028 strategy shift for the overall fund, the real estate business will likely see more changes than other parts of the organization “just given the nature of the market,” noted Knapp, who joined NBIM from Houston-based manager Hines in June.

The first major component is integrating NBIM’s separate teams for listed and unlisted real estate, which together account for roughly equal proportions of the fund’s $75 billion of equity in the asset class.

The second change is broadening the fund’s private real estate strategy. Previously, NBIM’s unlisted real estate investments were geographically restricted to eight cities – London, Paris, Berlin, New York, Boston, Washington DC, San Francisco and Tokyo – along with a globally focused logistics strategy.

The geographic focus will now expand from the eight cities to the larger regions of Western Europe and North America. Meanwhile, the fund is “studying” future investments in the Asia-Pacific region. “That’s a whole separate project,” Knapp said.

While a “good location” will vary by sector, “we’re trying to still pick strong locations and believe that’s a key driver of value, but just in a much broader way, so a much broader geographic remit, and with that, a broader set of tools to invest, especially on the private side,” he said.

Whereas NBIM’s real estate investment staff previously was grouped by cities, the team will now be organized by the four main food groups of office, logistics, retail and living, as well as a “fifth plank” for niche sectors. The 43-person team, which is now concentrated in NBIM’s London and New York offices, will not be changing materially in size, Knapp added.

Additionally, NBIM will no longer be restricted from investing in private market residential, with the investor having already built large positions in the sector on the public side.

Although private residential “was historically redlined” because of reputational concerns, “we’ll be very careful who we partner with and the types of deals we get involved in, because it’s clearly a concern from some stakeholders,” Knapp said.

“But obviously it’s also worth noting that we already have lots of residential investment and that our peer set of comparable pension and sovereign funds have large residential investments as well.”

The third component is taking a more strategic view of real estate. “The fund has almost doubled in size in the last five years,” Knapp remarked. “We need to work at a higher altitude and look more at big-picture trends that are going to impact real estate over the next five to 10 years, rather than micromanaging individual buildings.”

That will call for more of an indirect approach, whereby NBIM will make platform and fund investments for the first time.

Picking both the right strategy and the right partners will be paramount, with partners needing to fill three key criteria: an operational skill set, strong alignment with NBIM and the ability to operate at a certain scale.

“We’ll be evaluating all of our partners on the same basis,” Knapp said. “We have some great existing partners. We expect to have some new relationships as well, but we’re not looking to radically expand our partner base,” given the small size of NBIM’s real estate team.

“I think what we’ve advocated is a more flexible strategy to reflect a rapidly changing world with a certain amount of volatility in it,” he said. “The starting point is, let’s enhance the pool of potential opportunities we can consider and then focus our teams on better stock selection within that broader opportunity set.”

Return enhancer

NBIM’s planned overhaul of its real estate strategy comes a month after Norges Bank submitted a letter to the Ministry of Finance underscoring how the bank’s investment focuses in the asset class – traditional sectors, a limited number of countries and cities, as well as direct investments – resulted in a portfolio negatively impacted by major changes in the market, including structural shifts in office and retail demand and traditional sectors requiring more operational management.

“This has contributed to the real estate portfolio delivering weaker returns than the equities and fixed income we have sold to finance the investments,” Norges Bank governor Ida Wolden Bache and NBIM deputy chief executive Trond Grande wrote in the letter. “Norges Bank is not satisfied with the results in real estate management, and is now making changes to the strategy for real estate.”

Over the past five years, equity management’s contribution to the fund’s relative return has been 0.31 percentage points, while fixed income management’s contribution has been 0.18 percentage points, according to the letter. In contrast, real estate management has contributed -0.13 percentage points over the same period.

“Generally, you could say that we’re transitioning from being a core investor that holds assets forever into being more of a core-plus investor, so to have a slightly shorter horizon on our investments and definitely a greater focus on whether the current portfolio will deliver return for us over the next phase or not,” explained Knapp, who had spent the last 16 years at Hines, most recently as its chief investment officer for Europe.

The investor is looking to generate excess return over the benchmark index of equities and fixed income plus a hurdle, with the goal of beating the hurdle over the medium term. “We’re trying to be a return enhancer versus the index that we’re selling to do the real estate,” he explained.

At $75 billion in assets today, NBIM’s real estate portfolio is at the low end of its 3-7 percent target range, Knapp noted. However, “we’re not pushed in any way to invest. We’re really pushed to generate return. That’s the number one focus.”

The investor therefore will look to be “more thoughtful about the return prospects” for its real estate holdings. “We’re now looking at everything, saying, ‘Well, would we buy it at today’s pricing?’ If the answer is no, we’re going to sell it,” he said.

“So there will be more cycling for sure, and what’s key to successfully exiting assets is to have realistic pricing. I think our performance will be driven by a combination of smart new investments and smart divestments as well. We’re not going to hold a building just because it’s a beautiful building in a great location. We’re going to hold it because it’s got return potential.”

Overall, Knapp expects NBIM to be a net buyer rather than seller. “What we observe is that the market has a lot of investors with capital tied up. There are probably more net sellers than net buyers in the market right now,” he said.

“We’re definitely seeing a number of parties that are looking to rebalance their own portfolio – maybe they’re downsizing a bit, maybe they’ve reached the end of a business plan. So there’s a fair amount of dealflow, for sure.”

That's a fantastic interview with Alex Knapp, former CIO of Hines in Europe. He definitely knows what he's talking about in real estate and he and his team will focus on return enhancement and acquiring great assets in a new expanded real estate portfolio.

As far as NBIM's strategy plan for 2028, CEO Nicolai Tangen didn't mince his words:

The new strategy builds on the revised plan for 2023-2025 and takes the fund’s unique attributes as its starting point: our long-term investment horizon, our scale, our people and culture, and our technology and data.

Everything we do at the fund – from how we invest to how we develop our people – is designed to support our core mandate of maximising long-term return after costs, within an acceptable level of risk.

"The strategy sets out how we will work to become the best and most respected large investment fund in the world. We look forward to putting it into action over the next three years,” says CEO Nicolai Tangen.

The strategy has five key areas: Performance, Technology, Operational robustness, People and Communications.

I would invite my readers to take the time to read Strategy 28 here.

NBIM manages Norway's Government Pension Fund Global, the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world.

The Fund consistently ranks at the top position among global pension funds and truly sets the bar in terms of transparency (Canadian pension funds also rank high).

In Real Estate which is a major focus of Strategy 28, I note the following:

We will take allocation positions to manage the fund's total risk profile. With delegated investment mandates, the fund’s total risk profile may require adjustment - even when individual portfolios are well-positioned.

We do not expect any material changes in our average risk utilisation, but our active risk-taking will vary as market conditions change. We will occasionally take allocation positions when abnormally large market dislocations create attractive opportunities. Such dislocations can occur when other investors are forced to act due to behavioural factors, regulatory requirements, or funding problems – exactly when our patient capital becomes most valuable.

The management mandate allows us to invest up to 7 percent of the fund in unlisted real estate and up to 2 percent in renewable energy infrastructure. In this strategy period, we raise the ambition level for our real asset investment strategies. We invest in real assets as part of our active management. The purpose of active management is to exploit the fund’s defining characteristics to achieve excess returns over time. We invest in real assets to maximise fund returns after costs. We believe that achieving this goal also improves the long-term trade-off between return and risk in the fund, and that the fund’s characteristics position us to achieve our goal.

As one of the world’s largest investors, we can access unlisted investment opportunities unavailable to smaller investors and negotiate favourable terms when investing indirectly. Our scale and reputation provide access to premier partners. Our long investment horizon and limited short-term liquidity needs mean that we can be patient through market cycles.

Real estate

Real estate is a large part of the overall investable market and an opportunity for us to enhance the fund’s returns. During this strategy period, we will shift from geographic concentration to sector diversification. We will to a larger extent delegate the operational management of the real estate portfolio and gradually invest more through indirect structures. We continue to view listed and unlisted real estate as complementary ways of achieving exposure to the real estate market, and our long investment horizon makes us well-suited to handle higher short-term volatility from the listed real estate portfolio.

• We will evolve from a combined strategy to a fully integrated strategy. For any desired real estate exposure, we will systematically evaluate whether listed or unlisted real estate provides the most attractive risk-adjusted return.
• In unlisted markets, we will continue to invest in large, traditional sectors such as office and logistics, but will gradually invest more in newer and higher growth sectors.
• We will invest more through indirect structures to get access to specialised strategies and operational capacity. However, most of the unlisted portfolio will continue to be directly invested with partners by the end of the strategy period. 

Anyway there is a lot more so please take the time to read Strategy 28 here.

Below, NBIM CEO Nicolai Tangen sits down with David Rubenstein, founder and chairman of the Carlyle Group and host of the David Rubenstein Show. They explore what makes truly great investors, why going against conventional wisdom matters, and the critical importance of humility in business and leadership. Great interview, take the time to watch it.