As they faltered, one of the public pension funds globally recently reduced its holdings of traditional automakers and loaded up on shares of well-known tech-related stocks.
In the first quarter, the Canada Pension Plan reduced its holdings in Ford Motor and General Motors, nearly doubled down on Tesla stock, more than doubled its investment in Chinese electric vehicle maker NIO, and nearly tripled its investment in Apple. In a form it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the pension’s manager, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, also referred to as CPP Investments, disclosed the stock trades among other things.
Regarding the changes to investments, CPP Investments declined to comment. The fund’s assets were $462.51 billion as of March 31. Pensions & Investments ranks the Canada Pension Plan as one of the top ten largest public pensions globally in terms of assets.
At the end of the first quarter, CPP Investments had acquired 7.1 million additional Apple shares, bringing its total holdings in the iPhone manufacturer to 11.5 million shares.
In the first quarter, Apple’s stock fell 11% while the S&P 500 index increased by 10%. The index has increased 1.8% this quarter, but shares have gained 15%.
In the first quarter, Tesla stock dropped by 29%; thus far in the second quarter, shares are up 1%.The pension manager increased its holding of Tesla to 979,800 shares in the first quarter by purchasing 454,500 additional shares.
To end the first quarter with 3.1 million American depositary receipts (ADRs), CPP Investments purchased 1.7 million more NIO ADRs. NIO ADRs decreased by 50% during the first quarter and have now increased by 7.3% thus far in the second.
The pension manager reduced its holdings in GM and Ford from 5.8 million and 1.0 million shares, respectively, to 1.3 million and 691,600 shares, respectively.
GM’s stock increased 26% in the first quarter, while Ford’s stock increased 8.9%. In the second quarter, GM stock is up 1.0% and Ford shares are down 8.5%.
