Global economic imbalances set to dominate the investment landscape.
Roughly 18 months after the financial crisis, the economic fog is beginning to lift, but custodians still struggle with declining pension assets. In this year’s Custody Report, State Street Canada—once again securing the No. 1 spot—reported $354.6 billion in Canadian pension assets under custody, a drop of 5.3% from last year. Right behind is RBC […]
The February issue of Benefits Canada featured a roundtable with senior representatives from custody service providers on the issues and trends facing the industry. This web-exclusive shares some of those insights a long with new commentary. Participants: J.B. (Bernie) Ward, director, corporate and group services, Canadian Western Trust François Gagnon, executive vice-president, custody services, Desjardins […]
Other Brieflies this week:| MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | RBC Dexia Investor Services has launched a liability benchmarking tool to help plan sponsors align their assets and liabilities. “Our objective liability benchmarking service provides sponsors with an important tool to help monitor their ability to pay their pensioners,” says Fay […]
It pays to be an optimist in this industry. Indeed, it couldn’t be any other way. Money managers are, by necessity, natural believers in the markets’ ability to provide returns—so long as prudence and foresight are wielded—regardless of the forces acting on the economic landscape. So, as the rest of the country steels itself for […]
It’s not easy being a Canadian plan sponsor these days. Volatile equity markets, increasing longevity, and the questionable notion of risk management have conspired to visit misery upon those employers who deem it important to provide their workers with a retirement plan. In an effort to provide guidance to plan sponsors, Benefits Canada held its […]
Other Brieflies this week:MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | According to a survey conducted by Aon Consulting, employees and employers have a precarious ‘wait-and-see’ attitude when it comes to retirement programs. Employees are waiting for an economic recovery before moving forward with retirement, and employers are not addressing retirement program changes […]
Other Brieflies this week:| MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | Canadian regulators are seeking a record settlement amount of $400 million from a number of brokerages for their involvement with the asset-back commercial paper (ABCP) debacle, reports the National Post. Sources say the reason for the unprecedented sum is that the […]
A new association representing the interest of the Canadian securities lending industry — the Canadian Securities Lending Association (CASLA) — was officially launched on Monday. The group is a combined creation of CIBC Mellon, Northern Trust, RBC Dexia and State Street Corporation — the four firms that dominate securities lending in Canada. The co-founding companies […]
In Safe Hands February 28, 2009 | Brooke Smith In the current economic climate, custodians are concerned with increasing communication and protecting client assets. In Marathon Man, as Dustin Hoffman squirms and sweats while strapped to a chair in an interrogation room, Laurence Olivier, dental instruments in hand, asks repeatedly, “Is it safe?” That’s the […]