In April, the funded status of a typical pension plan slightly increased on both a solvency basis and on an accounting basis.
The representative pension plan portfolio returned -1.7 per cent for the month, as both equity and fixed income markets faced headwinds amid persistent market volatility.
The global developed and emerging equity markets index, the MSCI ACWI, returned -3.1per cent in Canadian dollar terms. The Canadian equity index, the S&P/TSX Composite, finished the month with a return of -0.1 per cent.
Short-term Government of Canada bond yields remained steady while the long-term Government of Canada bond yields increased by approximately 0.19% over the month of April. Meanwhile, credit spreads for short-term and medium-term corporate bonds increased, whereas long-term credit spreads held steady.
Market expectations for long-term inflation (the break-even inflation rate) were approximately 1.82 per cent at the end of April, which represents a slight decline since the end of March.
"Volatility and uncertainty continue to be key themes as we enter the second quarter of the year" says Gavin Benjamin, Partner in TELUS Health’s Consulting team.
"The funded ratio of the typical pension plan increased by 0.5 per cent during the month of April and by the end of April had dropped by about 2.0per cent since the beginning of 2025. However, these relatively small funded ratio changes fail to convey how volatile the plan’s funded ratio has been in 2025. For example, on January 23rd the plan’s solvency funded ratio was almost 3 per cent higher than the ratio at the beginning of the year, while on April 7th it was more than 6per cent lower. This represents a swing in the funded ratio of more than 9 per cent during a period of less than three months. Volatile periods such as the one we are experiencing serve as a reminder of how important it is for plan sponsors to utilize tools that can quantify pension plan financial risk. This includes tools that can monitor pension plan financials on a daily basis, as such frequent monitoring can provide valuable insights that less frequent monitoring, such as on a quarterly basis, does not provide."
Click here to read the April report.