NB 745
May 20, 2008
FREDERICTON (CNB) - The New Brunswick Investment Management Corporation (NBIMC) announced today its investment performance results for the 2007-08 fiscal year, with a 0.79 per cent overall gross rate of return. The corporation also announced that its longer term annualized four-year return was 8.33 per cent.
Investment returns for the Public Service, Teachers' and Judges' plans were 0.76 per cent, 0.83 per cent, and 0.76 per cent respectively. The returns to the different client funds come about through the different proportions of investment assets held by each fund.
Net assets under management at year end were $8.699 billion, which was down slightly from $8.718 billion in the prior year. The decrease in assets resulted from $49 million in net investment earnings, and $138 million in special funding payments from the plans' sponsors, being offset by larger net pension payouts of $206 million.
The corporation once again noted that it is one of only a few pension investment organizations that report on a March 31 year-end. NBIMC returns for the calendar year ended Dec. 31, 2007 were 5.08 per cent, while the longer term annualized four-year return was 10.11 per cent. These returns continued to be strong versus other peer public service and pooled balanced fund manager alternatives.
"The past fiscal year was a very difficult investment environment due to the significant volatility and uncertainty in the financial markets," NBIMC president and CEO John Sinclair said. "However, we are encouraged by how well our asset mix design performed during the overall market down turn we experienced. While NBIMC's long-term annualized performance continues to be in excess of the expectation of the pension plan, we do expect the market to remain challenging through the next fiscal year."
"We will continue to invest for the long-term and work to consistently add value above our funds' benchmarks through low cost active management strategies," Sinclair said.
The NBIMC is the Crown corporation that manages the pension assets of over 46,000 plan members. The corporation expects to have its 2007-08 Annual Report posted online at http://www.nbimc.com in mid-summer of 2008.
08/05/20
MEDIA CONTACTS: John A. Sinclair, president and CEO, and Jan Imeson, vice-president and chief financial officer, NBIMC, 506-457-6989.
08/05/20