While the UK looks to take inspiration from the Canadian ‘Maple 8’ model, it is important to understand the Canadian funds did not get to scale overnight, delegates at the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) Investment Conference heard this week.
The UK government is currently pushing for local government pension schemes (LGPS) to consolidate into megafunds, inspired by the Canadian ‘Maple 8’ model – which includes Canada’s eight largest pension funds – in order to drive growth into the UK economy.
Under the current plans, the deadline for LGPS to consolidate is March 2026.
Last summer, the UK’s chancellor, Rachel Reeves, announced the government’s intention to replicate the ‘Canadian model‘ for LGPS funds, which could unlock a significant investment in UK infrastructure investment. This move triggered a debate on how much this would unlock for infrastructure investment.
Mei Mavin, head of global corporate communications at Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, which is the largest of the Canadian pools and manages $700bn in assets, said her fund “got there slowly”.
Speaking at the PLSA conference in Edinburgh on Wednesday morning, she highlighted that the first transfer to the pool in 1999 was a mere $12.1m, showing a “significant growth” for the pool over 25 years, which has happened following its 2006 decision to become an active manager.
It didn’t happen “overnight”, she stressed.
“That was probably a key piece. Everyone is talking about ‘Maple 8’ and how much money they are returning, but it took some time, and significant decisions along the way in terms of active investment and opening offices globally,” Mavin explained.
She added that the approach was really to “crawl, walk and then run”.
“We don’t jump into new markets just because it’s exciting or interesting. We take the time and really make sure we either have the people in the group or are working with partners that really get to know the market well before deciding to open an office or invest in a particular market or sector,” she said.
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Pamela is IPE's UK correspondent.
Before joining IPE in May 2023, she spent five years writing about the insurance industry.
During her career so far she won awards for Most Promising Newcomer in 2020 and Best Investigative Article in 2022 from the British Insurance Brokers Association, and was also highly commended at the WTW Media Awards for Insurance Features Journalist of The Year.View full Profile
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