Performance Universe of Pension Managers Pooled Funds - March 2024

TELUS Health has released the results of its Performance Universe of Pension Managers’ Pooled Funds for the first quarter of 2024.

According to the report, in the first quarter of 2024, diversified pooled fund managers posted a median return of 5.1 per cent before management fees.

“Stock markets posted strong returns during the first quarter of 2024. The S&P/TSX Composite Index of Canadian equities returned 6.6 per cent. For the same period, the MSCI World Index posted a return of 11.7 per cent (in Canadian dollars). The S&P 500 equity index increased by 13.3 per cent (in Canadian dollars) and the Emerging Markets Index rose by 5.1 per cent (in Canadian dollars) during the quarter. As for fixed income securities, the Canadian bond market decreased by 1.2 per cent in the first quarter," said Jean Bergeron, a Partner in the TELUS Health Investment Consulting team.

“The funded position of a typical pension plan increased on a solvency basis over the first quarter, driven mainly by the strong performance of equity markets. In fact, we estimate that the solvency ratio of a typical pension plan has increased by 6.0 per cent in the first quarter of 2024” added Bergeron.

During the first quarter of 2024, diversified pooled fund managers performed, on average, higher than the benchmark portfolio. Indeed, the median return of managers (5.1 per cent) was 1.3 per cent higher than the return of the benchmark portfolio used by many pension funds (with an allocation of 55 per cent equity and 45 per cent fixed income).

Click here to read the March 2024 report.