The latest report, to the end of March, said the fund had a strong third quarter, with a $1.7 million surplus helping provide a total of $7 million for the first nine months of the financial year.
Its principal had hit $72.9 million, after it shrank to $66.9 million in the middle of last year.
Fund chairman Ross Liddell said in a report to yesterday's council finance and strategy meeting the outlook for the next few quarters remained positive and he expected the fund to maintain its current level of growth well into the next financial year.
But Mr Stephens told the meeting the market since March 31 had been volatile.
"What happened after March 31 was not quite as good as what happened before," he said.
In May, the $7 million surplus had dropped closer to $5.6 million.
"That really demonstrates you can't predict with a lot of accuracy what's going to happen in the markets," he said.
"I'm not sure the fund can maintain its growth into the next financial year as Mr Liddell predicted."
The surplus by the end of the financial year would be about $5.6 million, which was still better than the $4.2 million target.
Mr Stephens also noted the fund had some BP shares, though not to a high value, which were "not worth quite as much as they were".
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