Canadian pension funds last year turned in their best return on investments since 1997, move into al

Date: Thursday, January 22, 2004

Canadian pension funds last year turned in their best return on investments since 1997, but falling interest rates and a soaring currency erased the bulk of those gains, an industry study says…To improve current returns, Mr. Larochelle head of Mercer Investment's Consulting retirement practice said an increasing number of pension funds have moved into so called "alternative investments" such as hedge funds and private equity investments. Those hedge fund investments, he said, likely did not do as well in last year's strong rising market as traditional equities, but must be viewed as a long-term strategy.