Cadim: The China and India Real Estate Market Entry Decisions

I. INTRODUCTION
Cadim is a real estate division of Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec (Caisse), Canada’s largest pension fund management firm. Caisse is the largest institutional investor in Canada, overseeing more than $245 billion in assets and carrying out more than $12 billion in transactions daily. Cadim is one of Caisse’s three real estate divisions comprising around 6.23% of Caisses portfolio ($15.3 billion). Cadim focuses on residential and hotel markets, while the other two real estate arms focus primarily on shopping malls and business. Currently Richard Dansereau, Cadim’s Chief Operating Officer is in the process of deciding whether or not to move in to the India and China real estate markets. This case study will review the key issues, the general environment of India and China, Cadim SWOT, alternatives to moving into India and China and will conclude with our recommended course of action.

II. KEY ISSUES
Richard Dansereau, Cadim’s Chief Operating Officer has been tasked with making the final decision whether to enter real estate markets in India and China. Cadim has been forced to look toward external markets due to the average risk- adjusted return of real estate in their current markers, North America, averaging considerably below Cadim’s internal required return rate of 14%.

One factor affecting Cadim’s decision is whether Cassie’s two other real estate companies plan on entering the country as well. Even if entering India or China makes sense for the residential/hotel sector the same opportunities may not be available for shopping malls and business real estate. The overall viability of the market must be taken into account by Cadim’s because they only