The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that on the heels of a 9.4-per-cent return last year, Caisse boss Charles Emond is now bracing for what could be his biggest test yet -- helping Quebec's businesses stay competitive in the face of a hostile and unpredictable United States. The Globe's Nicolas Van Praet writes that the Montreal pension-fund giant generated returns worth $40-billion in 2024, boosting its net assets under management to $473-billion, it said in results released Wednesday. Equities drove the performance, with a gain of 25.5 per cent as stock market indexes surged on the strength of U.S. tech companies. Since Donald Trump has taken over the White House, however, volatility has climbed. The pension fund has boosted its investments in Quebec and now has assets worth $93-billion in the province. Among recent moves, it provided $500-million in support to National Bank to help it buy Canadian Western Bank, helped appease an activist investor at CAE, and convinced trucking firm TFI International not to redomicile to the United States. This week, it announced a deal to buy clean-energy producer Innergex. It also rolled out a new flexible financing program to counter the U.S. tariff threat.