TORONTO – Canada Pension Plan Investment Board says it was able to overcome a general downturn on stock markets near the end of 2018 to record a 1.1 per cent return in its third quarter.

The investment manager for the Canada Pension Plan said its CPP Fund had $368.5 billion of assets at Dec. 31 — up $200 million from the quarter ended Sept. 30.

The increase was after $3.8 billion in net cash outflows to the CPP during the quarter, which offset most of the $4 billion of net income achieved by CPPIB through its investment activities.

Chief executive Mark Machin says that broad declines in global stock markets created a challenging investment environment during the quarter, especially in December

But Machin added that CPPIB benefited from its diversified investment portfolio and the positive impact of a decline in the Canadian dollar compared with other major currencies, which increased the relative value of its foreign investments.

CPPIB’s annualized net real rate of return over 10 years — which adjusts for inflation — was 8.2 per cent.