More than half of pension assets in foreign holdings: StatsCan

Following a revamped survey, Statistics Canada reported that the market value of the assets held by employer pension plans reached $2.1 trillion in the first quarter of 2021.

Just over half of pension holdings were invested in foreign assets, with StatsCan reporting that the market value of domestic assets came in at $952.3 billion while $971.7 billion were held in foreign assets.

Another $179.4 billion was classified as “unknown” nationality.

The agency also reported that pension revenues totalled $62.3 billion in the first quarter, driven by $32.2 billion in gains realized on the sale of investments.

Expenditures totalled $30.0 billion, StatsCan said, with $15.4 billion in pension payments made during the quarter.

StatsCan redesigned its data collection on pension plans for the first quarter — expanding the number of funds on which data was collected and increasing the variables covered.

Given these changes, the agency isn’t providing comparative data for Q1— that will resume with second-quarter data, which is scheduled to be released Dec. 15.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.