A weak loonie lifted foreign holdings as emerging market equities surged past 25%
Canadian pension plans, foundations and endowments earned a median return of 6.38 percent in the second quarter of 2026, with every major asset class ending the period in positive territory.
The result comes from the BNY Canadian Asset Strategy View universe, a fund-level tracking service run by BNY Global Risk Solutions.
The universe measures $360bn in assets across 62 Canadian corporate, public and university pension plans, foundations and endowments, with the average plan holding $5.80bn.
Over the year to June 30, 2026, according to the service, the median plan returned 12.06 percent, while the median 10-year annualized return reached 7.38 percent.
A weaker Canadian dollar did much of the work, lifting the value of foreign holdings.
Canadian pension plans "benefited from a weak Canadian dollar" that lifted foreign investment returns, said David Cohen, director of global risk solutions Canada at BNY.
Every asset class posted gains this quarter, he said, led by the US and Emerging Markets.
Cohen also pointed to geopolitics and technology as forces behind the quarter's moves.
He said the conflict between Iran and its neighbours rattled global markets through oil price swings and disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.
Artificial intelligence and semiconductor firms and related industries, he added, drove the investment markets this quarter.
Among plan types, foundations and endowments outperformed both pension categories, posting a median 7.94 percent for the quarter.
Public pension plans returned 6.89 percent and corporate pension plans 6.06 percent, the data showed.
Plans holding more than $1bn in assets under management beat the overall universe median.
Emerging market equity led all traditional asset classes, the universe reported, with a quarterly median return of 25.56 percent, followed by US equity at 17.07 percent.
Among non-traditional assets, hedge funds returned a median 6.53 percent, ahead of private equity at 3.00 percent and real estate at 1.68 percent.
Active managers posted mixed results against benchmarks.
Canadian equity's median 7.52 percent edged the S&P/TSX Composite Index at 6.96 percent, and Canadian fixed income returned 2.93 percent against the FTSE Canada Universe Bond Index's 2.01 percent.
International equity's 15.61 percent beat the MSCI EAFE Index return of 12.93 percent.
Other segments trailed their benchmarks.
According to the service, global equity returned 14.44 percent versus the MSCI World Index's 15.79 percent, while emerging markets equity's 25.56 percent lagged the MSCI Emerging Markets Index at 26.21 percent.
US equity's 17.07 percent came close to the S&P 500's 17.12 percent.
The universe reports all returns gross of fees and in Canadian dollars.
