The market value of trusteed pension fund assets ended 2006 with a surge to $915 billion, according to Statistics Canada.
Fund assets, which declined 2.1% earlier in 2006, rebounded 7% in the final three months. Year-end fund values have increased steadily since bottoming out at $532 billion in the first quarter of 2003.
On a year-over-year basis, revenues for 2006 hit $109.4 billion, up 15.6% from 2005. Expenditures rose 9.5% as a result of steadily increasing benefit payments to retirees. Net income of $69.3 billion was up 19.5% from the previous year.
For 2006, annual contributions, including those of employers and employees, amounted to $35.9 billion, up 16.3% from the $30.8 billion contributed in 2005. Annual contributions have exceeded benefits paid to retirees since 2003.
To comment on this story email craig.sebastiano@rci.rogers.com.