The Caisse clarifies changes made to the management mandate of certain portfolios

The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec today clarified changes made to the management mandates of the international equity portfolios managed at the Montréal office by adopting index-based management rather than active management. This decision affects 10 employees. The change does not affect the other international equity portfolios, such as those managed externally, nor does it affect any other Caisse portfolio.

The Caisse stated that the decision was not related to the current financial crisis or to ABCP and that it was the result of an evaluation begun several months ago. The returns obtained to date do not justify the greater effort required for active management as opposed to an index-based approach. Such a change is in the normal course of business.

The value of the in-house international equity portfolios that will now be managed on an index basis represents about 9% of the assets managed by the Equity Markets group and about 2.9% of depositors’ net assets, as at December 31, 2007.

About the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is a financial institution that manages funds primarily for public and private pension and insurance plans. As at December 31, 2007, it held $155.4 billion of net assets. One of the leading institutional fund managers in Canada, the Caisse invests in the main financial markets as well as in private equity and real estate. For more information: www.cdpq.com.