Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan generated $26.6 billion of investment income in the first six months of 2026, more than four times what it earned in the same period last year, with an investment it made seven years ago in SpaceX emerging as a significant contributor.
The pension manager reported a 9.5% total-fund net return for the six months ended June 30, compared with 2.1% and $6.0 billion of investment income in the first half of 2025.
The standout was Teachers’ Venture Growth, the pension fund’s late-stage technology investment business. Its portfolio increased to $25.9 billion from $15.3 billion at year-end, a roughly 69% expansion in six months.
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Ontario Teachers specifically identified Space Exploration Technologies as a significant contributor to the total fund’s return. It did not disclose how much of the $26.6 billion in investment income was attributable to SpaceX.
The disclosure connects one of Canada’s largest pension funds directly to what became the largest US IPO on record.
Ontario Teachers first invested in Elon Musk’s SpaceX in June 2019, making the company the inaugural investment for its then-new Teachers’ Innovation Platform.
Financial terms were never publicly disclosed by the pension plan. At the time, Ontario Teachers described SpaceX as an opportunity tied not only to launch services but also to the potential growth of Starlink’s satellite broadband business.
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The investment platform was renamed Teachers’ Venture Growth in 2022. By then, the portfolio had expanded to $7.1 billion across 20 direct investments and venture-fund partnerships. Ontario Teachers said at the time that it intended to eventually increase the strategy to between 7% and 10% of total assets.
Four years later, venture growth represented 9% of Ontario Teachers’ investment portfolio at June 30, 2026, up from 6% six months earlier.
SpaceX reached public markets near the end of that six-month period. The company priced its IPO at US$135 per share on June 11 and began trading on the Nasdaq on June 12. The offering sold about 555.6 million shares and raised US$75 billion, valuing SpaceX at roughly US$1.77 trillion at the IPO price.
Ontario Teachers described the listing as a major milestone for its first venture-growth investment and said SpaceX contributed significantly to first-half fund performance.
SpaceX has since demonstrated the volatility that comes with turning a private holding into a publicly traded one. After reaching well above its US$135 IPO price following its June debut, shares fell more than 25% from the offering price by early August before rebounding.
However, SpaceX was not the sole driver of the pension plan’s stronger half. CEO Jo Taylor said the largest contributions came from venture growth, public equities, and inflation-sensitive assets. Public equity holdings increased to $61.1 billion from $50.0 billion at year-end, while infrastructure climbed to $44.8 billion from $34.5 billion.
Private equity moved in the opposite direction, declining to $48.0 billion from $50.8 billion. Commodities fell to $30.1 billion from $32.1 billion.
Overall equity exposure, including public equity, private equity, and venture growth, increased to $135.0 billion, representing 46% of net investments. That was up from $116.1 billion, or 43%, at December 31.
