Canadian pension assets rose by 5% in Q1

Canadian pension assets enjoyed healthy gains in the first quarter of 2019, according to new data from Statistics Canada.

The national statistical agency reported that the market value of Canadian pension assets rose by 5.0% in the first quarter to $1.97 trillion.

The increase was powered by short-term investments, such as corporate bonds, banker’s acceptances, treasury bills and commercial paper, which increased by 10.2% in the first quarter, StatsCan said.

Additionally, mortgage investments rose by 6.3% and bond investments grew by 6.0% in the quarter.

StatsCan said that real estate investments were the only asset class to decline in the first quarter, and they only slipped by 0.2%.

Pension funds also recorded a 52.6% jump in net income in the first quarter, StatsCan reported.

Securities sales drove the increase in pension income, the agency noted, as profits on securities sales jumped 58.2% in the quarter to $20.0 billion.

Staff

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