The market value of Canadian pension plans rose 3.9% in the first quarter, according to new data from Statistics Canada (StatsCan).
StatsCan reports that employer-sponsored pension funds had a total market value of $1.2 trillion at the end of the first quarter, up 3.9% from the previous quarter. The data refers only to trusteed pension plans, which cover about five million Canadian workers.
For these plans, the value of their investments in stocks grew 4.5% in the first quarter, StatsCan says. StatsCan also notes that this outpaced the 3.1% gain in the value of shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) for the same period.
At the same time, the value of real estate assets grew by 3.7% in the quarter, but bond holdings edged down 0.2%, it notes.
Foreign investments now represent almost a third of total pension fund assets (32.6%), and the value of these holdings increased by 6.9% in the quarter, it reports.
StatsCan also reports that pension fund revenues totaled $36.1 billion in the first quarter, which was unchanged from the fourth quarter of 2012. However, expenditures fell by 3.6% to $15.5 billion in the same period, which increased net income for a third straight quarter to $20.6 billion.