Canadian pension fund HOOPP to open London office (updated)
16/09/2023 24:00
(Adds quote in paragraph 7)
By Maiya Keidan, Iain Withers and Carolyn Cohn
TORONTO/LONDON, Sept 15 (Reuters) -
The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), one of
Canada's largest pension funds, plans to open a London office as
part of its global expansion, it said on Friday.
The move reflects growing investor confidence in
Britain, which is rolling out a number of post-Brexit reforms to
boost capital inflow and regain ground lost to financial centres
like New York.
"We see value in London as a hub to effectively support
and manage HOOPP's growing assets," the spokesperson for the
fund said in an interview. More details will be revealed in due
course, the person said.
Another Canadian pension and Australia's top two largest
schemes both invested in the UK recently.
Australia's largest pension fund is
hiring more staff
in London and the country's second-biggest pension fund
said it would open
a new office
in the city.
The C$233 billion British Columbia Investment
Management Corporation (BCI) announced in February that its
infrastructure and renewable resources team was opening an
office in London to target more investments in the UK and across
Europe.
The C$104 billion ($76.98 billion) pension fund has briefed
local officials - including the City of London Corporation that
runs the British capital's historic financial district - about
the plans, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
"A lot of people are looking at UK assets at the
moment," said Tom Thackeray, partner at headhunting firm
Heidrick & Struggles, who works with private capital funds. He
said the interest partly reflected a dearth of available quality
assets.
London-based job recruiters see a growing trend of overseas
pension funds setting up shop in Britain to grab talent and gain
better access to local investments.
"Those with a global viewpoint generally see the strong
upside in the UK," said Ghada Sousou, CEO of recruitment firm
Sousou Partners. "This is thanks to geographic positioning,
cosmopolitan lifestyle, top schooling and relatively low
political and economic risk."
While HOOPP does not break down its investments by region,
its real estate allocations have continued to grow outside
Canada, rising 11.4% in 2022, to almost half of its portfolio,
according to the fund's annual reports.
Out of the top 10 Canadian pension schemes, eight have
offices in London.
(Reporting by Maiya Keidan in Toronto and Iain Withers and
Carolyn Cohn in London; Editing by Paul Simao and Richard Chang)
((Maiya.Keidan@thomsonreuters.com; 1 226 688 4571; Reuters
Messaging: maiya.keidan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))