Opinion
Therrien: Falling interest rates broke the traditional 2-and-20 hedge fund fee model
“The problem we've had in the last 15 years really is the whole rate structure fell, which brought sort of the two 20, not no longer the right fee structure.”
Insight
Therrien: Illiquid assets reduce optical risk and daily mark-to-market panic
“Investing more money in illiquid assets also mitigates sort of the optical risk, if you like. Because, you know, these assets are not revalued every day, so I think that I mean, at the end, I think that's also important, because why people behave in a certain …”
Disclosure
Therrien: CDPQ uses '1.5% or 15%' fee structures to capture more alpha
“From our standpoint, one of the variation that we brought, which is in parallel to what Luke said, was the fee structure, which is X or Y. So we pay 1.5 or 15%, depending, instead of 1.5 and 15%, which actually helps us capture the portion of the alpha that's …”
Insight
Terrien: CTA strategies carry positive gamma and thrive in volatile markets
“That strategy as a positive gamma. That strategy thrives in more volatile markets.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Terrien: Major succession shift coming to hedge funds in the next decade
“I think that we'll see a big shift in succession, whether it's in public or private markets, hedge funds over the next five, 10 years, where that generation is now moving into another cycle.”
Disclosure
Therrien: CDPQ Moved Most Hedge Fund Allocations to Managed Accounts
“In order for us to be a better evaluator of talent, we have transitioned a big part of our program in edge funds onto managed account platforms.”
Insight
Therrien: True pension patience requires accepting underperformance during market speculation
“Patience in, in the context of a pension plan Is, is being able to sort of shy away from, you know, the fads, shy away from sort of the trends, the momentum that can build up into sectors, into some stocks. Patience also means what? Means underperform. Underpe…”
Opinion
Therrien: CDPQ's deep bottom-up research is an investment superpower
“Which I think is, is a big change from the past where research was important, but today it's like, I think it's an edge. It's one of the superpower that we have, I believe.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Therrien: Opening local emerging market offices separates the Canadian pension model
“That's, I mean, that's the other area also that separates the Canadian model where, you know, CPPIB, Ontario Teachers, and now PSP in Montreal are all opening offices across the emerging market countries.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Therrien: Top-growing future asset managers will combine quant and fundamental strategies
“I think that, you know, there's been some people talking about sort of the mix between quant and fundamental. I think in the future, the managers or the money managers that will sort of grow the best will be the people that will marry both discipline.”
Disclosure
Terrien: CDPQ allocates to hedge funds through an unfunded overlay program
“For us, it became very important to calibrate well here because we have an overlay program. It's not a funded program. So we use our balance sheet to invest in hedge funds.”
Assertion Supported
Therrien: CDPQ's external manager program manages 45B CAD across 130 GPs
“Everything that we do at CDPQ with our external funds, which covers about forty five billion dollars Canadian, which is about close to 15% of total assets of CDPQ, and that covers about a 130 different GPs around the world.”
Disclosure
Therrien: CDPQ's 19-person team manages $20B+ in external liquid assets
“Essentially, my role today is I run a group of 19 people, and we are in charge of all of the allocations within external managers. From long-only equity, emerging markets, edge funds, sovereign debt, so different types of strategies, everything that's involved…”
Assertion Supported
Therrien: Canada's 'Big Eight' Pension Funds Manage Over $1 Trillion
“Well, first of all, you have to think that the big eight in Canada is now over one trillion dollars.”
Assertion Partly supported
Therrien: CDPQ manages over 90% of assets internally across asset classes
“CDP has more than 90% of his assets managed internally across all asset classes.”
Disclosure
Therrien: CDPQ targets an absolute return slightly above 6% for clients
“Which for us, you know, we, we're, Targeting just a little north of six percent for our clients.”
Disclosure
Therrien: CDPQ holds individual single-position stakes exceeding $1 billion
“For, at the CDP level, we probably have stakes that are in dollar, or absolute, are above a billion dollars. I mean, easily.”
Disclosure
Therrien: CDPQ partners with roughly 60 external managers across six strategies
“We work with about sixty-ish external managers in six different type of strategies, I would say, from hedge funds to value investing to relational investing to sovereign debt.”
Assertion Supported
Therrien: SBAI has ~130 signatories representing over $1T in AUM
“This buy also has just about a 130 different signatories who have all committed to adhere to the standards that represents over one trillion in AUM worldwide.”
Assertion Supported
Therrien: CDPQ built a $5B external hedge fund platform in 3 years
“So we build up from zero to five billion dollars in about three years. We are multi-manager platform.”
