CPP Investment Board posts 8.9% return for 2018-19, adds $35.9B to assets

TORONTO — Canada Pension Plan Investment Board recovered from a weak quarter in late 2018 to produce a solid 8.9 per cent net return for its most recent financial year.

The Toronto-based investment manager for the Canada Pension Plan said its CPP Fund had $392.0 billion of net assets as of March 31, up $35.9 billion from the end of the 2018 financial year after all costs.

The fiscal fourth quarter also showed a recovery from a weak return of 1.1 per cent in the third quarter that was affected by a general downturn in stock markets in December.

CPPIB’s five-year real rate of return, which adjusts for inflation, was 8.9 per cent as of March 31 while the 10-year real rate of return was 9.2 per cent.

Those returns are well ahead of what the Chief Actuary of Canada has determined to be necessary to sustain the Canada Pension Plan to at least 2090. 

The Canadian Press