Montreal, June 15, 2023 – While the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) ended its financial year with the biggest loss since the 2008 debacle, its top executives shared $10.6 million in bonuses on the grounds that they had outperformed the market average. However, a study unveiled today by the Centre for Productivity and Prosperity – Walter J. Somers Foundation of HEC Montréal throws a spanner in the CDPQ’s works: had they been evaluated on the basis of a more rigorous analysis process, the conclusions might not have been the same.
“The findings of this fourth part of the Productivity in the Quebec Public Sector series are clear, explains Robert Gagné, Director of the CPP and co-author of the study: the CDPQ is performing well enough to ensure that depositors are able to meet their short- and long-term financial obligations, but its ability to generate returns since the financial debacle of 2008 has been weak. In short, there is every indication that the CDPQ is not effectively fulfilling the mandate entrusted to it by the government.”
