The market value of Canadian employer-sponsored pension funds totalled $1.3 trillion at the end of the fourth quarter of 2013, up 5.8% from the third quarter, according to Statistics Canada.
Pension fund investments in stocks grew 9.4% in the fourth quarter, surpassing the 6.4% gain in the value of shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange for the same period. The value of bond holdings increased 3.6%, while investments in real estate assets grew 3.3%.
The value of foreign investments also rose, increasing 9% in the fourth quarter. The share of foreign investments held in Canadian pension funds accounted for 33.9% of total pension fund assets.
Pension fund revenue peaked in the fourth quarter, up 27.6% to $42.2 billion. Investment income rose 36.4%, and profit from the sale of securities increased 36.5%.
Expenditures rose 6.8% to $18.1 billion in the fourth quarter. However, with higher year-end revenue, net income grew from $16.2 billion in the third quarter to $24.2 billion at the end of the fourth quarter.
More than 6.1 million Canadian workers are members of employer-sponsored pension plans. Of this group, 5.2 million workers belong to pension plans with assets managed by trusteed funds. The remaining members have assets managed by insurance company contracts.
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