The British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) reported a 16.5% return for the year ended March 31 as equities markets soared following the brief bear market in March 2020.
BCI reported $199.6 billion in assets under management, a $28.3-billion increase that reflects investment gains of $27.4 billion and $900 million of client net contributions. The 16.5% return was net of all fees, the pension manager for 690,000 British Columbians said in a release.
BCI’s 10-year annualized return was 9% and the five-year return was 8.7%, it said.
“While BCI’s one-year return slightly lagged the combined market benchmark, our longer-term returns exceed our six major pension plan clients’ required actuarial rates of return that currently range between 5.65% and 6.75%, improving their funding ratios,” the release said.
Over the same period, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board reported a 20.4% return net of all costs.
BCI’s total costs were $1.6 billion or 88.5 cents per $100 of assets under management for fiscal 2021, the fund manager said.