CPP Fund posts 11.6% return thanks partly to last year’s stock markets surge

TORONTO — Canada Pension Plan Investment Board says the main fund it manages for the national retirement system increased its assets by $39.4 billion over the financial year ended March 31, achieving a net annual return of 11.6 per cent.

CPPIB’s chief executive officer Mark Machin says the main driver of growth over the first nine months of fiscal 2018 came from soaring public equity markets.

The CPP Fund received $36.7 billion in net income from investments, after all CPPIB costs, and $2.7 billion in net contributions from employers and employees covered by the Canada Pension Plan.

At the end of March, the CPP Fund had net assets of $356.1 billion, up from $316.7 billion at the end of fiscal 2017.

The investment portfolio’s 10-year real rate of return, which is used as a benchmark against assumptions made by Canada’s chief actuary, was 6.2 per cent while the five-year rate of return was 10.4 per cent.

The chief actuary estimates the CPP Fund can meet its obligations with an average return of 3.9 per cent over 75 years.