TORONTO, March 30 (Reuters) - The Ontario Teachers' Pension
Plan, one of the world's biggest infrastructure investors,
achieved a 13 percent rate of return on its investments in 2015,
it said on Wednesday.
The performance last year by Canada's third-largest public
pension plan compared with an 11.8 percent rate of return in
2014. The fund's net assets grew to a record C$171.4 billion
($131.77 billion) at the end of 2015 from C$154.5 billion a year
earlier.
Ontario Teachers', which administers pensions for 311,000
retired and working teachers in Canada's most populous province,
earned C$19.6 billion from its investments during the year, up
from C$16.3 billion in 2014.
"Despite volatile market conditions, Ontario Teachers'
global diversified portfolio produced strong investment
returns," said Bjarne Graven Larsen, who was appointed chief
investment officer on Feb. 1.
Ontario Teachers' pioneered a move by Canadian pension funds
to invest directly in private companies, infrastructure and real
estate internationally as an alternative to Canadian equities
and government bonds.
The plan had a preliminary funding surplus of C$13.2 billion
on Jan. 1. This was the third year it has posted a surplus after
a decade of recording annual deficits.
($1 = 1.3008 Canadian dollars)