Northern Trust Pension Universe Data

Canadian Pension Plan Returns Concluded the First Quarter With an Upbeat Tone Buoyed by Rising Stock Markets - Seite 2

• Canadian Equities, as measured by the S&P/TSX Composite Index, rose 6.6% for the quarter with the majority of sectors posting gains for the period. The Health Care sector was the best performer followed by the Energy and Industrials Sectors. The Communications Services and Utilities sectors witnessed the weakest performance, generating negative returns.
• U.S. Equities, as measured by the S&P 500 Index, advanced an impressive 13.5% in CAD for the quarter, driven mainly by the performance of the “Magnificent Seven”. All sectors posted positive results with the best performance from Communications Services, Energy and Information Technology sectors.
• International developed markets, as measured by the MSCI EAFE Index, returned 8.7% in CAD for the quarter. Most sectors generated positive returns with Information Technology and the Consumer Discretionary sectors observing the strongest performance, while the Utilities sector posted the weakest results for the period followed by the Consumer Staples sector.
• The MSCI Emerging Markets Index increased 5.1% in CAD for the quarter. The majority of sectors generated positive returns with the Information Technology sector leading the way with double digit performance, while the Real Estate sector was the biggest laggard for the period.

The Canadian economy witnessed an easing of core inflation data during the quarter relative to the end of 2023, highlighting restrictive monetary policy is achieving its purpose. The labor market experienced positive job surprises in January and February and posted flat results in the month of March. Despite the strong labor figures, the unemployment rate jumped to 6.1% in March, up from 5.8% during the previous quarter, signaling employment growth has not kept pace with population growth.

The U.S. economy continued to demonstrate resiliency despite being challenged by stickier inflation as the March CPI figure was higher than anticipated. The unemployment rate ticked up marginally to 3.8% in March, from 3.7% in December. Hiring remained strong as witnessed by the new job data each month throughout the entire quarter. The Federal Reserve (Fed) maintained the Federal Funds Target Rate at 5.25% - 5.50%. The Fed, highly dependent on data, indicated it intends to cut rates only when the data suggests that inflation is moving down sustainably towards its target of 2%.