The market value of assets held by Canadian trusteed pension funds rose 2.3 per cent in the third quarter of 2022, hovering around $2.1 trillion, according to a new report by Statistics Canada.
Public sector plan assets rose 2.7 per cent to $1.7 trillion, while private sector assets increased by 0.6 per cent to $420.9 billion. The report also found these pension funds posted a net loss of $5.4 billion in the third quarter, following a net loss of $3.4 billion in the previous quarter.
Total revenue fell 20.5 per cent to $19.9 billion, mainly because of net realized losses on fixed income investments and financial derivatives, which totalled $7.5 billion. Those net realized losses were partially offset by net realized gains on equities and tangible assets, amounting to $5.6 billion. Expenditures also fell 10.9 per cent to $25.3 billion.
Read: Trusteed pension funds’ assets valued at $2.1T in Q2: Stats Can
The five largest asset categories, which together accounted for just over 90 per cent of the total market value of assets, all increased in the third quarter. The largest increase was in the other assets category (up 11.3 per cent), followed by infrastructure (up 6.5 per cent), real estate (up 2.8 per cent), equities (up 0.9 per cent) and bonds (up 0.6 per cent).
Canadian bonds and equities both decreased quarter over quarter, falling 1.9 per cent and 0.1 per cent, respectively. Overall, domestic assets fell by 0.4 per cent, while foreign assets rose 3.4 per cent. As well, the total market value of domestic holdings fell 0.4 per cent to $881.2 billion.
Three of five domestic asset classes declined with the total decrease amounting to $8.8 billion. Bonds declined 1.9 per cent, followed by equities (down 0.1 per cent) and short-term investments (down 0.2 per cent). These decreases were partially offset by a combined $5 billion increase in infrastructure and real estate.
Foreign bonds increased by $11.7 billion, while infrastructure and equities increased by $7.9 billion and $7.3 billion, respectively. Foreign short-term assets decreased by 1.1 per cent or $0.1 billion. The value of assets of nationality unknown accounted for 12.1 per cent of all assets at the end of the quarter, compared with 11.5 per cent in the second quarter and 10.8 per cent one year earlier.
Read: Trusteed pension funds’ assets valued at $2.21TN in Q1: Stats Can