The market value of assets held by Canadian trusteed pension funds dropped in the second quarter of 2022, both month-over-month and year-over-year.

The funds shed $119.3 billion to finish the quarter at $2.1-trillion, a 5.4 per cent drop. Year-over-year, the market value dropped $55.5-billion, a 2.6 per cent decline. The market value of trusteed pension funds however was still higher than reported at the end of the last pre-pandemic quarter, the first quarter of 2020, when the market value of assets was just $2-trillion.

“It is worth noting that in the second quarter of 2022, the Standard and Poor’s 500 dropped 10.9 per cent,” they write.

Asset categories showed mixed results during the quarter, with equities and bonds dropping 7.1 and 7.2 per cent respectively, while real estate assets increased 2.2 per cent and infrastructure rose 3.1 per cent.

“Canadian trusteed pension funds posted a net loss of $3.4-billion in the second quarter, compared with a net income of $24.7-billion in the first quarter of 2022 and of $40.4-billion in the second quarter of 2021,” they add. Notably, net realized losses drove total revenue 51.2 per cent lower, month-over-month. Year-over-year total revenue was down 62.5 per cent.

Expenditures are also on the rise, increasing 7.4 per cent in the quarter and 8.1 per cent, year-over-year, driven largely by pension payments.