Canada's top business executives urge pension funds to ramp up domestic investments

(Reuters) - More than 90 top Canadian business leaders have signed an open letter to the country's finance minister and her provincial counterparts on Wednesday, urging the need to address the decline in domestic investments by pension funds.

"We are concerned with the decline in Canadian investments by pension funds and its impact on the Canadian economy. Millions of Canadians have contributed to their pensions with wages earned in Canada," the letter said.

The country's pension funds have cut holdings of publicly-traded Canadian companies to less than 4% of total assets at the end of 2023 from 28% at end-2000, it added.

Prominent signatories of the letter included National Bank of Canada's CEO Laurent Ferreira, Rogers Communications' chief executive Tony Staffieri and Canadian Natural Resources' Vice-Chairman Tim McKay.

Pension funds are key to a country's economy, as they hold substantial assets comparable with banks, which are invested across classes including debt, equity and alternatives. The returns provide retirement income and support finances of the aged population.

Major Canadian pension funds include Canada Pension Plan (CPP) Investments, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (OTPP), among others.

"Over the last 25 years, Canadian equity markets have topped the G7 countries and have consistently delivered very competitive returns," the letter said.

The letter also garnered the support of former CEOs of big-name companies such as Scotiabank's Brian Porter and Air Canada's Calin Rovinescu.

(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru and Divya Rajagopal in Toronto; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)