TORONTO -- The fund that invests on behalf of more than 18 million contributors and beneficiaries of the Canada Pension Plan has reported a gross investment return of three per cent in its fiscal 2013 third quarter, but that wasn't what pleased new CEO Mark Wiseman the most.

"Obviously we're happy with the investment results, but as we've said in the past, we don't judge our successes or our failures 90 days at a time," Wiseman said in an interview Friday.

"What I do think you see in the quarter's results is not just the financial results, but you see evidence of the capabilities that we've built as an organization -- our extensive professional investment capabilities, which are increasingly global in nature."

It's a capability not to be taken lightly, especially in light of pressure to expand the CPP in an era when private pension plans are increasingly struggling to provide Canadians with adequate income in retirement.

Wiseman, who took the helm at the CPPIB last July following the retirement of David Denison, was a co-architect with Denison on the CPPIB's current active investment strategy.

The strategy, launched in 2005, is aimed at growing the fund to help meet pension obligations even when payouts begin to outnumber annual contributions sometime in the next decade.

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 16, 2013 B9