The Global Infrastructure Investors Association (GIIA) is an advocacy group that aims to promote private investment in infrastructure around the globe. Its membership consists of some of the biggest names in private equity such as Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, and J.P. Morgan, who collectively, alongside the association’s 100+ affiliate members, represent US $2.04 trillion of infrastructure assets in 68 countries.

GIIA’s membership list also includes corporate names with a high profile in Canada, including Brookfield, CPP Investment Board (CPPIB), Caisse de Depôt, and, as of recently, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP).

Established in 2015, the GIIA’s founding members included massive asset management funds from Australia, the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Canada, including but not limited to sovereign wealth funds, life and health insurance asset managers, pension funds, and private equity funds. Just prior to the group’s official establishment, prominent industry magazine Private Equity International mentioned the GIIA as one of just two groups in the infrastructure industry that have begun responding to the immense social scrutiny and increasingly negative public perceptions of private infrastructure ownership (Private Equity International 2015). Such scrutiny extends to the global financial sector generally, occasionally resulting in tighter regulation of banks, private equity, and infrastructure operators—outcomes which the GIIA explicitly lobbies against.

In June 2016, the GIIA held their first meeting in Toronto. Having grown to 40 members by this time, 8 of these founders of GIIA were Canadian pension funds. When asked to explain the association’s decision to convene their first meeting in Toronto, former GIIA CEO Andy Rose commented:

“When it comes to infrastructure, Canada is where the money lives.�

Canada is the jurisdictional home and headquarters for many of the world’s largest and most asset-rich pension funds—and their investments are by and large “global�. Out of the CPP’s $714 billion portfolio, only 12% is currently invested in Canada (Benefits and Pensions Monitor 2025). In a Globe and Mail article published in 2016 covering the GIIA’s meeting in Toronto, then-CEO Andy Rose expressed high praise for Canadians on their global leadership in infrastructure investing. Rose commended the level of infrastructure financing investment expertise of major Canadian funds, using the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan (OTPP) as his example, citing their $16 billion infrastructure portfolio wherein “the majority of assets are held outside of Canada, principally in the U.K., Europe, Chile, the U.S. and Australia�—including control of the water utilities in Chile (Globe and Mail 2016; Business News Americas 2024).

In a recent interview, the current GIIA CEO, Jon Phillips, described the recent activities of the GIIA, who claimed that the association is

“…engaging directly with decisionmakers and advisers, to ensure policies are in place that enable our membership to continue investing through a challenging periodâ€�

These efforts include lobbying for more public private partnerships (PPPs) and better regulatory frameworks for private capital (Global Infrastructure Hub 2023). Phillips also mentioned that while initially, the GIIA focused primarily on the UK, Brussels, and Washington DC, they are gradually extending their reach into Australian and Canadian markets.

In the same interview, Phillips was asked about what he hopes to see from governments in the immediate, medium, and long-term as the GIIA continues its pursuit of “influencing governments to work with funds to develop policy frameworks that attract and drive infrastructure investment�. Phillips’ reply placed significant emphasis on the importance of “net zero and long-term resilience to climate change�, as well as the need to “future-proof� energy, utility, and transport networks. Further, he argued that closing the funding gap through PPPs with investment from GIIA members was critical to doing so. The GIIA boasts of its members’ key role in developing the infrastructure required for things like a net zero economy on their website, assuring that they “promote an environment where private investment is encouraged and able to contribute positively to economic, social and environmental goals� (GIIA).

Against this backdrop, it is important to mention that one of the most prominent Canadian members of the GIIA is Brookfield Corporation, formerly chaired by now Prime Minister Mark Carney. While having several investments in renewable energy and making explicit climate commitments, Brookfield also has notable and controversial investments in high profile fossil fuel and oil and gas companies (Global Energy Monitor 2023). Between 2020 and 2024, Brookfield was accused of “breaching Indigenous rights or harming the environment in at least four countries�, with multiple Brookfield businesses facing “reports of serious human rights abuses in Brazil, Indigenous resistance in Columbia, a First Nation’s $100-million lawsuit in Ontario and an environmental dispute in Maine� (CBC 2025). In September, 2025, the Center for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research (CICTAR) released a detailed report on Brookfield’s role in the water sector in Brazil that showed how its Brazil subsdiariy, BRK Ambiental, was using controversial tax incentives from the Brazilian government to finance its continuing privatization of the country’s public water utilities (CICTAR 2025).

Available material describing the origins of the GIIA suggests that the large Canadian pension funds, most of which are Toronto based, were instrumental as founding sponsors. It is notable that such funds, which in previous decades operated as low-profile and passive actors in the financial markets, have decided to engage so actively in lobbying and advocacy activities within an increasingly controversial field of public policy. A wide range of social movement actors – trade unions, public healthcare advocates, environmental groups – are aligned on the other side of these policy debates.

References:

The post Profiling the Infrastructure Privatization Lobby: GIIA appeared first on Financialization Lab.

On March 26, 2025, the Resisting Pension Fund Capitalism project presented a major, hybrid launch event featuring a panel of speakers addressing several dimensions of the pension fund capitalism problem. (For details on speakers, see our announcement here)

The event was delivered in English and Spanish and interpreted into English, Spanish, and French. The recording of the English language version can be accessed here.

The French and Spanish language versions of the video recording will be posted shortly!

The post Video recording: Confrontations with Pension Fund Capitalism (March 26, 2025 launch event) appeared first on Financialization Lab.

On 22 May 2025, come join GRAIN and the Resisting Pension Fund Capitalism project as we discuss the alarming expansion of predatory finance in the Asia Pacific region. The meeting, hosted by Public Services International, will focus on the impacts that private equity firms, pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds have on workers, food systems and public services, and what can be done to challenge their growing power.

Date:  Thursday May 22, 2025, 12h30 Delhi / 14h Jakarta / 17h Sydney

Presentations will include:

CICTAR on private equity’s impacts on health care and energy services 

GRAIN on general trends of financialisation and implications for the region’s food systems 

IBON Foundation on the Maharlika Fund— an SWF launched in the Philippines targeting mining and agriculture 

Indonesian power workers union PP-IP on resistance to the privatisation agenda behind the “green energy transition” 

For more information and to register go to  

Help share this event! Suggested social media message:

• Predatory finance is taking over Asia Pacific—workers, food & public services are at risk. Join us on May 22, 12h30 Delhi/14h Jakarta/17h Sydney, to expose how private equity, pension & wealth funds exploit communities—and how we fight back. Register here: 

The post Online Event: Fighting off vulture finance in the Asia Pacific appeared first on Financialization Lab.

(Français ci-dessous, Español abajo)

Launch event: Confrontations with Pension Fund Capitalism

On 26 March 2025, and the Financialization Research Lab at ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University are presenting a hybrid event to launch the website of their Resisting Pension Fund Capitalism project. The event, hosted by Public Services International, builds on the organised by GRAIN in 2022. 

Confrontations with Pension Fund Capitalism

Date:  Wednesday, March 26, 14:30-16:00 ET / 18:30-20:00 GMT

Location:  Room 1524, Dunton Tower, ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ University – Ottawa, Canada

Interpretation to English, French & Spanish will be available

To register on zoom:

The world is being acquired, reorganized, privatized, and transformed through processes described by many scholars and analysts as “financialization.� However, one of the largest and most influential actors in these processes, pension funds, has been largely overlooked by most analysts, as well as by many campaigners and political activists. Simultaneously, workers—often portrayed as the beneficiaries of both the profit-driven activities of their own pension funds and the investment strategies of other workers’ pension funds—have been experiencing setbacks, with pension coverage declining in numerous regions.

This hybrid event provides an opportunity for an in-depth exploration of this troubling phenomenon and the significant political questions it raises. The discussion will examine the role of trade unions in this context, the potential to curb governmental efforts toward widespread privatization, and whether popular movements can secure retirement benefits without contributing to predatory financial practices.

The event will include presentations by: Jason Ward of (Australia) on the Orpéa scandal involving a care company co-owned by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board that recently collapsed; Livi Gerbase of CICTAR (Brazil) on ‘pension fund capitalism’ in Latin America, including the role of Brookfield in Colombia; and Marco Kremerman of Fundación Sol (Chile) on Chile’s popular movement for pension reform.

A subsequent online event, focusing on financialization in the Asia Pacific, will be organised during the third week of May 2025 at a more appropriate time for Asian time zones. 

For more information and/or to subscribe for updates from the Resisting Pension Fund Capitalism project, please email: kevinskerrett@cunet.carleton.ca

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Événement de lancement : Confrontations avec le capitalisme des fonds de pension

Le 26 mars 2025, et le Laboratoire de recherche sur la financiarisation de l’Université ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ organisent un événement hybride pour lancer le site web de leur projet Résister au capitalisme des fonds de pension. L’événement, organisé par l’Internationale des services publics, s’inscrit dans le prolongement de la série de webinaires en deux parties organisée par GRAIN en 2022. 

Confrontations avec le capitalisme des fonds de pension

Date :  Mercredi 26 mars, 14 h 30 – 16 h 00 ET / 18 h 30 – 20 h 00 GMT

Lieu :  Salle 1524, Tour Dunton, Université ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ – Ottawa, Canada

Une interprétation en anglais, en français et en espagnol sera disponible

Pour s’inscrire sur Zoom :  

Le monde est en train d’être acheté, réorganisé, privatisé et transformé à travers des processus décrits par de nombreux universitaires et analystes par le terme de « financiarisation ». Cependant, l’un des acteurs les plus importants et les plus influents de ces processus, les fonds de pension, a été largement négligé par la plupart des analystes, ainsi que par nombre de militant·es et activistes politiques. Dans le même temps, les travailleurs et travailleuses, souvent présenté·es comme les bénéficiaires à la fois des activités lucratives de leurs propres fonds de pension et des stratégies d’investissement des fonds de pension d’autres employé·es, sont en difficulté, la couverture des régimes de retraite étant en recul dans de nombreuses régions.

Cet événement hybride offre l’occasion d’explorer en profondeur ce phénomène inquiétant et les questions politiques importantes qu’il soulève. La discussion explorera le rôle des syndicats dans ce contexte, la possibilité de freiner les efforts gouvernementaux qui favorisent la privatisation, ainsi que la question de savoir si les mouvements populaires peuvent bénéficier de prestations de retraite sans contribuer à des pratiques financières prédatrices.

L’événement comprendra des interventions de : Jason Ward du (Australie) sur le scandale Orpéa dans lequel est impliquée une société de soins, détenue en copropriété par l’Office d’investissement du régime de pensions du Canada, qui s’est récemment effondrée ; Livi Gerbase du CICTAR (Brésil) sur le « capitalisme des fonds de pension » en Amérique latine, notamment sur le rôle de Brookfield en Colombie ; et Marco Kremerman de la Fundación Sol (Chili) sur le mouvement populaire chilien en faveur d’une réforme des retraites.

Un événement en ligne ultérieur, axé sur la financiarisation en Asie-Pacifique, sera organisé au cours de la troisième semaine de mai 2025 à un horaire plus adapté aux fuseaux horaires asiatiques. 

Pour plus d’informations et/ou pour vous abonner aux mises à jour du projet Résister au capitalisme des fonds de pension, veuillez envoyer un e-mail à : kevinskerrett@cunet.carleton.ca 

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Evento de lanzamiento: Choques con el Capitalismo de los Fondos de Pensiones

El 26 de marzo de 2025, y el Laboratorio de Investigación sobre Financierización de la Universidad de ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ organizarán un evento híbrido para lanzar el sitio web de su proyecto Resistiendo al Capitalismo de los Fondos de Pensiones. El evento, organizado por Public Services International, se basa en la serie de dos webinars organizados por GRAIN en 2022.

Choques con el Capitalismo de los Fondos de Pensiones

Fecha: Miércoles, 26 de marzo, 14:30-16:00 ET / 18:30-20:00 GMT

Lugar: Sala 1524, Torre Dunton, Universidad de ÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´ – Ottawa, Canadá

Habrá interpretación en inglés, francés y español.

Para registrarse en Zoom:

El mundo está siendo adquirido, reorganizado, privatizado y transformado a través de procesos que mucha gente académica y analistas describen como “financierización”. Sin embargo, uno de los actores más grandes e influyentes en estos procesos, los fondos de pensiones, ha sido ampliamente ignorado por la mayoría de analistas, así como por la mayor parte de activistas y campañas políticas. Al mismo tiempo, la gente trabajadora—a menudo retratada como la beneficiaria tanto de las actividades impulsadas por las ganancias de sus propios fondos de pensiones como de las estrategias de inversión de los fondos de pensiones de otra gente trabajadora—ha estado experimentando retrocesos, con una disminución de la cobertura de pensiones en numerosas regiones.

Este evento híbrido ofrece una oportunidad para explorar en profundidad este fenómeno preocupante y las importantes cuestiones políticas que plantea. La discusión examinará el papel de los sindicatos en este contexto, el potencial para frenar los esfuerzos gubernamentales hacia la privatización generalizada, y si los movimientos populares pueden garantizar beneficios de jubilación sin contribuir a prácticas financieras depredadoras.

El evento incluirá presentaciones de: Jason Ward de (Australia) sobre el escándalo de Orpéa, una empresa de cuidados co-propiedad de Canada Pension Plan Investment Board que recientemente colapsó; Livi Gerbase de CICTAR (Brasil) sobre el “capitalismo de los fondos de pensiones” en América Latina, incluyendo el papel de Brookfield en Colombia; y Marco Kremerman de Fundación Sol (Chile) sobre el movimiento popular chileno por la reforma de las pensiones.

Un evento en línea posterior, centrado en la financierización en Asia-Pacífico, se organizará durante la tercera semana de mayo de 2025 en un horario más adecuado para las zonas horarias de Asia.

Para más información y/o seguir el proyecto Resistiendo al Capitalismo de los Fondos de Pensiones, por favor envíe un correo electrónico a: kevinskerrett@cunet.carleton.ca 

The post Launch Event March 26:
Confrontations with pension fund capitalism appeared first on Financialization Lab.

According to a report published by the Toronto Star, the federal crown corporation known as PSP Investments, responsible for investing the pension savings of various federal government employees, has been identified as the owner of a set of apartment buildings in Toronto where tenants have been engaged in a sustained rent strike against their landlord, Starlight Investments. Since May of 2023, a group of tenants, including Ateel Siddiqi, have been withholding their rent in protest of what they consider to be unfair and unlawful rent increases that are above the provincial rent increase guidelines.

When a reporter from the Star reached PSP Investments about the matter, they responded:

The is is available on the Toronto Star website, though behind a paywall.

The post PSP Investments targeted in Toronto tenant rent strike appeared first on Financialization Lab.