Aon tracker shows funded ratio dips to 111.4% as assets fall and discount rates rise
Canadian defined benefit plans in the S&P/TSX Composite Index saw their aggregate funded ratio slip to 111.4 percent at March 31, down from 112.6 percent at the end of the previous quarter, according to the Aon Pension Risk Tracker.
A year earlier, the ratio stood at 105.5 percent.
Over the first quarter, pension assets fell 0.9 percent.
At the same time, the long-term Government of Canada bond yield rose three basis points relative to the previous quarter, while credit spreads widened by six basis points.
Together, these moves pushed the discount rate up nine basis points to 4.78 percent.
Nathan LaPierre, partner for Wealth Solutions in Canada at Aon, said the first quarter of 2026 was volatile, with strong equity returns in January and February giving way to declines in March as geopolitics weighed on markets.
He said funded positions “remained relatively stable with only one percent decline,” but added that, with uncertainty likely to continue into 2026, plan sponsors should keep looking for strategies that “provide better outcomes.”
