February 2012 returns

March 29, 2012

Markets continued relatively strong in February and as a result, SPP posted a return of 1.6% to the balanced fund (BF) and 0.007% to the short-term fund (STF).   The year to date return in the BF is 3.8% and in the STF is 0.043%.

As illustrated in the monthly asset class return values below, equities continued strong returns in February primarily due to positive economic data from the U.S.  The Canadian bond market declined 0.40 per cent in February. Yields were rising for bonds of all terms, but more notably for short and mid-term bonds. However, long term bonds fell the most in the month due to their higher sensitivity to interest rate movements. Provincial bonds fell as investors acknowledged the difficult waters many provincial governments will have to navigate in the coming years.

Market index returns for the month of February 2012 were: