Ivanhoé Cambridge, the real estate arm of Canadian pension fund Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, sold CAD8.6bn (€6.1bn) of assets in 2014.

The subsidiary carried out a record level of transactions last year, investing CAD5.1bn in real estate. Real estate returned 9.9% in 2014 for La Caisse, while infrastructure returned 13.2%.

The investor said the sales and acquisitions were made with the objective of disposing of non-strategic properties to refocus on assets of the “highest quality” while building a ”critical mass in key sectors and markets”.

Ivanhoé Cambridge sold 21 hotels and bought multi-residential and logistics properties, two sectors in which it is looking to expand.

Properties were last year bought in Munich and Frankfurt as well as in New York’s Manhattan, Seattle and Denver.

La Caisse said it continued to seek geographical and sectoral diversification of its infrastructure portfolio, which has more than doubled in the past four years.

Last year saw the investor commit to two infrastructure investments in the US: the Indianapolis Power & Light Company and Invenergy, and London Array in the UK.

La Caisse had just under CAD22.9bn in real estate and CAD10.1bn in infrastructure at the end of last year.