Portuguese pension plan manager best European investor

Paulo Merino, the principal/portfolio manger of CPP Investments Board (Canada Pension Plan Investment) has been chosen by Financial News in London as the best European Investor in the under 40s category.

He was chosen for the award from among the 25 best European investors under 40 by the Financial News which is one of the most resected publications internationally.
The award which was announced on 20 September will be handed out on 21 October in London.
The CPPIB is one of the largest investment funds in the world and Paulo Merino is responsible for the management of the fund which invests in portfolios of problematic assets or Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) which are sold on the market to funds by banks.
From among other investments, Paulo Merino was, acting on behalf of CPP investment, behind the purchase of the largest portfolio of NPLs in Europe in the last 18 months and which involved an investment of €2Bn.
The CPP Investments Board manages €5Bn of problematic assets which represent around 1% of the total portfolios of assets managed by Canada Pension which the fund belongs to.
According to a recent study by Willis Towers Watson, Canada Pension is among the top 20 biggest pension funds (in millions of US dollars), occupying 8th place with total assets of around US$400Bn (€390Bn) as of 31 March 2021.