Canada Pension Plan Investment Board doubled its holding in Minnesota-based UnitedHealth Group Inc. and increased its stakes in other managed care insurers during the first quarter.

CPPIB added 1.6 million shares of UnitedHealth in the quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F ownership filing, boosting its stake in the health insurer to $707.6 million. UnitedHealth's stock during the quarter fell by 2.93%. The pension fund manager's largest insurance-related holding is Berkshire Hathaway Inc., as its 0.3% stake in Warren Buffett's company is valued at $779.4 million.
CPPIB held 13 positions in insurance underwriters that were valued at more than $50 million as of March 31. Those stakes are comprised of six P&C insurers, five managed care companies and two life and health insurers.

The ownership filing revealed two new positions the pension fund took in payment processing companies during the quarter. CPPIB bought 10,379,796 shares of Worldpay Inc. and 7,679,797 shares of PagSeguro Digital Ltd. in the period, valued at $853.6 million and $294.3 million, respectively. Brazilian-based PagSeguro is a newcomer to the market, having begun trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Jan. 24.
CPPIB added to its holdings in Mastercard Inc., which saw its stock jump by 15.7% in the first quarter. But it significantly pared back its exposure to two major banks, slashing its holdings in Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
According to a May 17 news release, CPPIB reported an annual return of 11.6% and an asset increase of C$39.4 billion. The fund manager's president and CEO, Mark Machin, credited the performance to a "strong equity market" and CPPIB's diversification strategy.
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