Canadian funds shine in transparency benchmark

For the fourth year running, Canada is number one in the country rankings of the Global Pension Transparency Benchmark, according to the 2024 results. Each of the five Canadian funds in the benchmark are ranked in the top 11 funds globally.

Not only was Canada nine points clear of the second-placed Australia, but it had the narrowest margin between its top- and bottom-ranked funds (scores ranging from 87 to 96).

Canada dominated in transparency of disclosures in governance, performance and responsible investment, taking top spot in all three; while The Netherlands took out the top spot in cost disclosures.

While Canadian funds score well across all four factors, they are particularly strong in governance. Three of the five funds that earned a perfect score on the governance factor are Canadian and all Canadian funds scored 97 or higher.

“Strong, independent governance is perhaps the most important element of the Canadian model,” according to Edsart Heuberger, CEM Benchmarking’s product lead for transparency benchmarking.

“Clearly, transparency on governance matters to them, too.”

Heurberger says for leading funds, the GPTB methodology has become a roadmap for improving transparency.

“These funds have addressed the gaps in their score. Governance, as an example, is an area where funds typically own all the data that is required to achieve a score of 100 – they just need to disclose.”

Australia ranked second in the country scores this year, moving up from fourth four years ago, when the benchmark was launched.

The Netherlands ranks third, and the Dutch funds continue to provide the best public disclosures on costs.

Heurberger also acknowledged the Nordic funds, which continue to improve transparency scores on the back of great responsible investing reporting.

The GPTB, a collaboration between Top1000funds.com and CEM Benchmarking, measures the transparency of disclosures across cost, governance, performance and responsible investment for 75 funds across 15 countries, with the aim of improving industry transparency.

The fourth edition of the GPTB reveals again that increased scrutiny on public disclosures is driving measurable improvements. Last year, 77 per cent of the reviewed organisations improved their total transparency scores. This year 69 per cent of funds scored higher.

In 2024, the average fund scored 63 out of 100, versus 60 last year, and 55 in 2022. The funds at the top of the rankings continue to improve the most.

For the second year running, the Government Pension Fund Global topped the list of the most transparent funds, narrowly beating CPP Investments. [See Norway takes out top spot on transparency, with a perfect score]

This year, the survey was updated with three goals in mind: removing or improving overly interpretative questions; keeping the responsible investment survey current; and keeping the cost disclosure requirements consistent with reporting best practice as set out by CEM’s Global Reporting Principles. The change in methodology hasn’t materially impacted fund or country rankings. [See the full questionnaire here]