The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that Canada's largest pension funds will likely take more losses on real estate and see defaults on private loans rise over the coming year, but have enough financial flexibility to mostly avoid having to sell assets at depressed prices, according to a report from Fitch Ratings Inc. The Globe's James Bradshaw writes that the higher cost of debt and slower economic growth have created a tough investing environment, pushing down the value of some private assets that pension funds own. That pressure has been most noticeable in real estate, where almost all of the country's largest pension fund managers suffered losses ranging from 5 per cent to nearly 16 per cent, erasing billions of dollars of asset value last year. Some pension fund bosses have signalled that the worst pain may be over for real estate investors as central banks have started to cut rates, giving hope that the cost to borrow money could ease. According to Fitch, however, property values "are still adjusting to higher borrowing costs, a scarcity of available financing and a general repricing of assets," especially office properties that have suffered from falling demand as hybrid working takes hold.