The Canada Pension Plan’s stock investments fell by 8.7%, or $1.5 billion, in the first quarter ended June 30, as a sliding equity market took its toll on the portfolio.

The total assets available to the Canada Pension Plan had net income of minus $0.4 billion in the three months ended June 30, 2002 and produced an estimated negative 0.3% rate of return.

However, the total assets grew by $2.3 billion to $56 billion as a result of increased CPP contributions by employers and employees, net of benefits paid out.

“While recent equity markets were bad news for most investors, they were great buying opportunities for us,” said CPP Investment Board president and CEO, John MacNaughton, in a statement.

On June 30, 2002 the assets consisted of $38.8 billion in fixed-income securities held by the Canada Pension Plan and administered by the Department of Finance in Ottawa, and $17.1 billion in equities managed by the CPP Investment Board in Toronto.

The fixed-income securities consisted of $31.9 billion in federal and provincial government bonds and $6.9 billion in an interest-earning cash reserve. These assets generated investment income of $1.1 billion during the three-month period (the first quarter of fiscal 2003) for an estimated 3.2% return.

The equity portfolio consisted of 95% public equities and 5% private equities and cash. Equities increased by $2.8 billion to represent 31% of total assets available to the Canada Pension Plan. The CPP Investment Board received $4.3 billion from the Canada Pension Plan