Canadian corporate and public pension plans in the RBC Investor & Treasury Services universe returned an overall 0.4% on their investments in the third quarter, continuing a six-quarter run of positive returns.
The returns for the latest quarter were down from the 1.4% overall return in the second quarter but maintained a positive run that began in the second quarter of 2016, RBC I&T said in a news release Wednesday.
The universe return was flat in the first quarter 2016; the last quarter with negative returns was the third quarter 2015, at -2%.
Canadian equity returns, which lost 1.9% in the second quarter, rebounded in the third quarter with a 3.8% return on the strength of rising oil prices, said James Rausch, head of client coverage, Canada, in the release. Meanwhile, Canadian fixed income lost 2% in the third quarter, vs. a 1.4% gain in the second quarter, after the Bank of Canada raised interest rates in September by 25 basis points to 1%, Mr. Rausch said.
Global equities were up 1.2% in the third quarter, compared to 2.3% in the second quarter.
The RBC Investor & Treasury Services universe has a combined C$650 billion ($507 billion) in pension assets.