By Dr. Maurice Yeates and Dr. Tony Hernandez

The latest research from the CSCA focuses on the changing nature of retail real estate portfolios of employer sponsored pension plans in Canada. It examines the increasing role that real estate is playing within the asset mix of major pension plans in Canada. The study provides an overview of ten major pension plans, and profiles five pension plans with sizeable shopping centre holdings. The findings point to increasing diversification in pension plan investments, across asset classes and by geography (particularly in fast-growth international markets). In a Canadian shopping centre context, the major pension plans, which controlled an estimated 11% of shopping centre space in 2016, have divested away from smaller malls in smaller centres and generally focused investment on major fortress malls in major markets.