“India gives us scale, growth and diversification,” said Charles Emond, President and CEO, La Caisse. “There hasn’t been a single year where all five or six asset classes did well together. In times of greater volatility, diversification and a broader portfolio matter more than ever.”
In its 10th year of operation, India has drawn about 2% of the fund’s current Canadian $517 billion ($ 377 bn) of assets under management (AUM), or Canadian $10 billion ($7 billion).
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Emond believes it would “not be wrong to presume” that over the next 4-5 years, another Canadian $4 billion (about $3 bn) will be deployed. Bulk of that money, he said, would be toward infrastructure build outs followed by real estate and then private equity.
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“India with its strong push towards urbanisation, sustainable energy demand and demographics really plays to our strengths,” he said.
To put the numbers in perspective, La Caisse – it manages money on behalf of pension and insurance plans of Quebec, — has roughly 10% of its global portfolio of assets marked for Asia Pacific. Of that India is the second largest after Australia, having tripled in past decade as a percentage of the APAC portfolio.Even as India has seen record $18.9 billion outflows from foreign portfolio investors coupled with net foreign direct investment (FDI) remaining negative for the fourth consecutive month in December 2025, Emond continues to argue that Indian government’s proactive outreach to attract foreign capital is second to none worldwide.
“They have a clear view and have been consistent in their policies. They all sing the same song. A lot of other countries can benefit from how the Indian government has been proactively seeking out foreign investors,” Emond said.
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The outflows, he said, are the ransom for higher growth and valuations. “India is among the few markets where liquidity has been available. The IPO market has given great returns.”
The infrastructure spending, according to Emond, will catalyse “massive inflows” across renewable energy, digital infrastructure, real estate, strategic transportation, EVs. This is his second visit to the country since he took over in 2020, just a month before Covid paralysed the world.
In India, the fund has jointly invested with Piramal Asset Management in a private credit financing platform, and with Embassy Group in an office business parks investment platform. La Caisse’s other investments in the country include PharmEasy, logistics company Logos India, Maple Highways – a platform for the roads sector that it owns in India and is also the sponsor of Indian Highway Concession Trust (IHCT).
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Being the world’s largest institutional infrastructure investor now worldwide, with marque investments in DP World – including Jebel Ali – in Dubai, La Caisse is building a 70 kms light rail transit system in Montreal — the world’s longest – which it plans to design, build, finance and operate.
Part of its dual strategy of generating returns for its depositors while contributing to Quebec’s economic development, Emond says he hopes the project will yield 8-9% returns for the next 50 years as well as help reduce greenhouse emissions by 100,000 tonnes every year.
Its renewable energy investment in Azure Power, a clean energy platform, however, had faced negative publicity and regulatory scrutiny.
The independent power producer which was listed with much fanfare on NYSE got delisted following a cloud of controversy in 2022-2023 around governance issues after a whistleblower report alleged corruption which also saw its auditor resign and financial results getting delayed. The cases are still ongoing. The company has 3GWs of assets.
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“The current environment has forced us to look very deeply at what kind of businesses we want to get into, the asset classes we bet on.” For India, La Caisse’s thesis is clear. “We want to grow together with institutional partners. We want to be acting as minority partners and be part of larger consortiums as opposed to having majority positions.”
Earlier this year, La Caisse presented its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2025. The weighted average return on its 48 depositors’ funds was 9.3% for one year, below its benchmark portfolio’s 10.9% return. Over longer terms, performance is above the benchmark portfolio: over five years, the annualized return was 6.5%, with the benchmark portfolio at 6.2%. By 2030, La Caisse aims to increase its Climate Action investments to Canadian $400 billion, in line with its commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050.
Last year, it also agreed to invest up to £1.7 billion for a 20% stake in the 3.2GW Sizewell C nuclear power project in the UK along with the government and EDF. The investment supports the development of a 38-billion-pound plant, which is designed to power 6 million homes.
“We are the 1st institutional investor to back a nuclear project. It highlights our commitment to sustainability and also proves we are a trusted partner who can offer sophisticated capital solutions.”
Talking about unprecedented global volatility amidst AI disruptions, tariffs and the war in Iran, Emond says it is forcing the world to look at things differently and stop taking things for granted. “People may say the oil shock or the cracks in private credit or even the AI disruptions are not as bad as the shocks of the past. Perhaps it is true that on their own none of these may be so detrimental but when you add all them together, on top of a toppy US market, it certainly warrants a bit of caution.” The best strategy he says is to stay disciplined and maintain optionality. “Approaching all markets with the same recipe will not work.”