The CPP Fund grew to $121.3 billion for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2007, an increase of $0.8 billion from $120.5 billion at the end of the previous quarter.
The $800 million growth for the quarter was primarily due to inflows of CPP contributions not needed to pay current pension benefits, while investment earnings of negative $56 million represented essentially a flat rate of return for the quarter.
The results reflected the recent volatility in financial markets generally and the negative impact of the strengthening Canadian dollar on foreign investment returns.
For the first half of the fiscal year, the fund grew by $4.7 billion, which was comprised of $4 billion in CPP contributions not needed to pay current pension benefits and $700 million in investment income, representing an investment rate of return of 0.67%.
At the end of September, the fund’s portfolio consisted of 56.5% public equities valued at $68.5 billion and 8.1% private equities valued at $9.9 billion. Nominal fixed income, which includes bonds and money market securities, represented 24.9% of the portfolio or $30.2 billion. Inflation-sensitive assets represented 10.5% or $12.7 billion. Of those assets, 5.1% consisted of real estate valued at $6.2 billion, 3.3% was inflation-linked bonds valued at $4 billion and 2.1% was infrastructure valued at $2.5 billion.
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