# Michelin Canada Pension Fund

Michelin Canada Pension Fund is a Corporate Pension Fund based in Greenville, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Corporate Pension Fund
- **Headquarters:** Greenville, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Greenville, SC, United States
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** https://www.michelin.ca/en

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

The Michelin Canada Pension Fund is the defined benefit vehicle covering eligible employees of Michelin North America (Canada) Inc., with investment management consolidated at the tire maker's North American headquarters in Greenville, South Carolina. The plan sits inside the larger Michelin Group retirement ecosystem, which includes the US Michelin Retirement Plan; the group's global pension assets were reported at approximately $32 billion as of year-end 2019 (per Bloomberg, 2020). The Canadian fund is a legacy of Michelin's manufacturing footprint in Nova Scotia and Ontario, where it operates multiple tire plants. Investment strategy is executed primarily through external managers and funds, consistent with the group's centralized North American approach. Mandates span private equity, real estate, infrastructure, and private credit, with the fund participating in the Alternative Asset Portfolio that Michelin runs globally. Unlike large independent Canadian public pension plans, Michelin Canada is a corporate plan governed by the federal Pension Benefits Standards Act and regulated by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI). Its structure limits transparency — the plan files regulatory returns but does not publicly disclose individual holdings or manager lineups. The fund is deeply integrated with Michelin's North American treasury and finance functions. No discrete investment committee roster is published. The plan's oversight rests with Michelin North America's finance leadership, which reports up through the parent company in Clermont-Ferrand. In June 2023, Michelin executed a US and Canadian pension risk transfer, purchasing group annuity contracts from Sun Life to offload a portion of its North American retiree liabilities — a transaction that reshaped the funded status of the Canadian plan (per Sun Life, June 2023). Structural distinction comes from embeddedness: this is not a standalone Canadian pension investor with independent board governance and a public-facing investment team, but a liability management tool within an industrial multinational. Allocators evaluating co-investment or GP relationships should approach through the Greenville treasury group, not a dedicated pension CIO. The plan's posture is conservative corporate DB — liability matching, funded-ratio management, and low-volatility alternative exposure rather than aggressive direct private-market sourcing.

## Sectors

- Private Equity
- Real Estate
- Infrastructure
- Private Credit
- Hedge Funds

## Questions

### Who controls investment decisions for the Michelin Canada Pension Fund?

Investment authority sits with Michelin North America's treasury and finance function in Greenville, South Carolina. There is no dedicated Canadian pension CIO or independent investment committee. The parent company, Groupe Michelin, sets broad asset allocation parameters for North American and global retirement assets. Day-to-day manager selection and portfolio construction are executed in Greenville, reporting up through the group's CFO chain. No named investment principals are publicly disclosed for the Canadian plan specifically.

### How does the plan's governance differ from that of a Canadian public sector pension?

Unlike the Ontario Teachers', CPP Investments, or bcIMC, the Michelin Canada Pension Fund is a single-employer corporate DB plan regulated by OSFI under the federal Pension Benefits Standards Act. It is not an independent statutory trust — its fiduciary governance is exercised through corporate officers of the sponsoring employer, not an arm's-length board. This means the plan's funded status, risk appetite, and investment policy are ultimately determined by Michelin North America's corporate finance considerations, not by a legislated investment board mandate.

### Has the plan undertaken any recent de-risking transactions?

Yes. In June 2023, Sun Life announced that Michelin North America had purchased group annuity contracts covering a portion of its US and Canadian defined benefit liabilities. These buy-out contracts transfer longevity, investment, and other pension risks to Sun Life, reducing the funded-status volatility of the underlying plans. The transaction did not fully terminate either plan but represents a material shift toward an insured DB structure.

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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