Vestcor Inc. reports strong 2019 performance | June 11, 2020

Vestcor Inc. (Vestcor) has released its 2019 Annual Report, providing an accounting of a strong year of both investment performance and administration service delivery activities.  Vestcor is an independent New Brunswick based, not-for-profit company offering global investment management and pension and benefit administration services to public sector entities.

The 2019 Annual Report details Vestcor’s success at exceeding its investment clients’ objectives as well as the key service delivery targets of their administration clients during the year.

“Vestcor continues to deliver solid investment performance for our clients” said John A. Sinclair, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our clients depend on us to provide well-diversified portfolio strategies that meet their specific funding objectives in a risk-controlled fashion.  We also recognize that 2020 has been a much more challenging investment environment and we look forward to these strategies continuing to help our clients meet their long-term investment goals, during more volatile market conditions.”  Sinclair also noted that “Vestcor has been working very closely with its’ clients over the past few months by providing them with frequent financial market and portfolio updates that many have been sharing with their stakeholders”.

Investment performance for total assets under management was 11.76 percent for the year ended December 31, 2019, with a management expense ratio of approximately 0.12 percent.  “Our not-for-profit business model continues to provide cost efficient investment and administration services that are well aligned with the specific needs of our clients” said Sinclair.  Pension Fund clients achieved a 2019 gross return of 11.77 percent on a combined basis which exceeded blended client portfolio benchmarks by approximately 0.61 percent during the year.

The long-term annualized gross Pension Fund returns, since Vestcor began its investment management business (formerly known as N.B. Investment Management Corporation prior to its privatization in 2016) in 1996, continues to exceed both client return and risk management funding requirements at 7.21 percent.

Vestcor pension and benefits administration service teams also continued to exceed their Business Plan objectives during the year while processing another significant increase in pension and benefit applications, and at the same time successfully implemented a new administration system.  “We were very pleased to have been able to seamlessly implement a new internally managed pension payroll process for our clients’ retirees effective January 1, 2020” added Sinclair.

About Vestcor

Located in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Vestcor provides global investment management services to nine different public sector client groups representing approximately $18.5 billion in assets under management as at December 31, 2019, and administration services to 15 public sector pension plans and 4 employee benefit plans.

Vestcor’s team of more than 140 New Brunswick-based service professionals provides innovative, integrated, cost-effective investment management and pension and benefit administration services solutions to public sector entities.  Vestcor currently services the requirements of approximately 99,100 individual plan members and 134 participating employer groups.

Further information about Vestcor including the 2019 Annual Report, is available online at www.vestcor.org.

MEDIA CONTACT:

John A. Sinclair
President and chief executive officer
506-444-5800