At $45.9 billion at December 31, 2010, fixed income assets represented 44% of the fund's investments.
We manage our fixed income assets in core portfolios of Government of Canada bonds, Ontario debentures, provincial bonds, real-return bonds and inflation-linked bonds. These assets provide investment security and steady income.
Since the 2008 financial crisis, we have strategically returned to more traditional fixed income investments. This asset class was adjusted after 2009 to hold fixed income securities exclusively. Real-return bonds, which were previously reported in another asset class (inflation-sensitive investments), are now included in fixed income, and for clarity we now report absolute return strategies separately.
Real-return bonds provide returns that are indexed to inflation, as measured by the consumer price index. Our holdings at year end included real-return bonds issued by the Ontario, Quebec, Canadian and U.S. governments, and the manager of Highway 407 in Ontario.