The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the investment side of the Canadian state retirement plan (Canadian Pension Plan - CPP), has committed itself to making its largest real estate investment up to date with a CAD 1bn (£632m) investment in an Australian real estate project.

The Lend Lease Group, Australia's biggest property developer, secured a total of AUD 2bn (£1,3bn) investment to develop the first two towers at its Barangaroo South site, a project which is part of larger redevelopment plans that will see a former harbour area in Sydney transformed into the city's new financial hub. The money was received from various pension funds and its own property fund.

Aside from the Canadian fund, another AUD $500m (£328m) will come from Telstra Super, a pension fund for Australia's largest phone company, and First State Super, an independent pension fund. Lend Lease itself will invest as much as AUD $500m (£328m). The project is expected to create over 10,000 jobs.

At the end of March 2012 the Canadian Pension Plan held assets worth $161.6bn, compared to $148.2bn at the end the same period in 2011, which marks a new all-time high for the fund.

Based in Toronto the fund is responsible for roughly 18 million contributors and beneficiaries.

First published 09.07.2012

azeevalkink@wilmington.co.uk