Canadian pensions battered by market woes

TORONTO, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Global market upheaval and uncertainty have shrunk the value of Canadian pension funds by 8.6 percent in the third quarter, RBC Investor Services said.

In a release issued in Toronto, RBC's Dexia catalog of funds worth $340 billion also showed longer-term losses, Don McDougall, director of Advisory Services, said.

"Year-to-date, Canadian pensions are down 10.1 percent," McDougall said. "It hasn't been pretty -- and judging by the performance in October so far, the situation is not getting any better."

The hardest-hit asset class was Canadian equities, which plunged 18.2 percent in the quarter. Within the class, energy stocks lost 28.3 percent, while materials dropped 33.6 percent in the third quarter.

However, McDougall said more severe pension losses were averted by investment strategies and currency values.

"Fortunately, most Canadian funds had already trimmed their exposure to resources," McDougall said. "Ironically, U.S. stocks and a stronger (U.S. dollar) helped cushion the blow."