Amid stock market turmoil in late 2018, pension assets dipped in the fourth quarter (Q4), according to new data from Statistics Canada.
StatsCan reports that the market value of pension fund assets declined by 1.3% in Q4 2018, finishing the year at $1.87 trillion.
Despite that Q4 drop, assets rose by 1.6% on a year-over-year basis.
In Q4, equities led the decline in assets, with the market value of pensions’ stock holdings dropping by 5.9% to $536.6 billion. Assets in foreign stocks fell by 2.0% in the quarter to $337.3 billion.
Conversely, bond assets ticked upward by 0.4% during the quarter. In particular, foreign bond assets rose by 2.7% in Q4 to $82.7 billion.
StatsCan also reports that pension fund revenues rose by 19.3% in Q4, to $50.8 billion. Investment income jumped by 46.6% in the quarter to $19.4 billion, and contributions rose by 12.9% to $16.9 billion.
Pension spending also rose by 39.0% in the fourth quarter, to $33.6 billion, generating net income of $17.2 billion, down by 6.5% in the quarter.