The financial assets of New Brunswick’s public service, teachers’ and judges’ pension plans reached an all-time high of $10.1 billion at the end of March, up from $9.4 billion a year earlier.
The increase resulted from $829.9 billion in net investment valuation gains and $166.6 million in special funding payments from the plans’ sponsors, mainly the provincial government. Net pension payouts during the 12-month period were $305.4 million.
New Brunswick Investment Management Corporation (NBIMC) achieved an overall gross rate of return of 9.1%. The long-term annualized return, since the corporation was formed in 1996, now stands at 6.8%.
“More importantly, the annualized real return—after adjusting for inflation—since our inception is now 4.75%, thereby continuing to exceed the long-term real return objective of 4% that has been set out by each pension plan’s independent actuary,” says John A. Sinclair, president and CEO of NBIMC.
He adds that the corporation’s investment strategy remained well positioned by continuing to take advantage of the relatively slow rebound since the financial crisis while protecting against interim periods of volatility and market declines.