The deal to take BCE private by a consortium led by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan may not close before the end of the quarter after the Quebec Court of Appeal ruled on Wednesday that the agreement was not fair to bondholders. The news sent BCE shares down as much as 14% on Thursday. The […]
Other Brieflies this week:| MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | Alpha Group, which plans to launch its alternative trading system in September to compete with the Toronto Stock Exchange, will charge the same fees to all participants regardless of the size of the dealer firm or its trading volumes. Jos Schmitt, […]
We’ve seen a number of big deals recently within the money management industry—most notably, the $1.4-billion acquisition of Phillips, Hager & North (PH&N) by the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). Pending regulatory approval, PH&N will become part of the newly created RBC Wealth Management. The deal would put RBC within striking distance of becoming […]
Four of the Big Five banks have confirmed they will participate in the restructuring of third-party asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP). Bank of Montreal, CIBC, Royal Bank and Scotiabank have agreed in principle—subject to certain conditions—to join National Bank, certain members of the pan-Canadian investors committee and certain dealer bank asset providers, and participate as lenders […]
As pension funds move into more sophisticated investment strategies, custodians are responding with cutting-edge technology and value-added services that go beyond their traditional offerings. Last summer, just as the investment industry was beginning to scramble to understand how non-bank asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) was causing a liquidity crisis, CIBC Mellon was alerting its clients. “On […]
Markets around the world have been on a wild ride over the last few weeks, but experts say pension plan sponsors aren’t in panic mode. “It’s business as usual. Plan sponsors are somewhat insulated on this day to day,” says Peter Clarke, managing director, head of Canada, UBS Global Asset Management in Toronto. “Typically, I […]
Investment managers expect equity returns to be modest this year, according to Mercer’s 2008 Fearless Forecast survey. As the Toronto Stock Exchange has generated double-digit annualized returns during the past five years, managers predict the Canadian equity market will produce a return of 6% this year. Better returns are expected to come from international and […]
bfinance, an international investment consultant specialized in investment manager search has opened an office in Toronto. The London, United Kingdom-based firm specializes in the search and evaluation of investment managers for Canadian and European institutional investors and opened its first Canadian office two years ago in Montreal. In the last year, bfinance conducted 80 searches […]
It’s rough seas these days for plan sponsors. With pension plans investing in alternative assets such as private equity and real estate, sponsors are now taking on more onerous tasks as they attempt to navigate these investment choices. Similarly, with no foreign exchange limit for pension plans, global investing is on the rise, requiring a […]
© Copyright 2007 Rogers Publishing Ltd. The following article first appeared in the February 2007 edition of BENEFITS CANADA magazine. Supersized The major players in Canada’s custody industry are getting larger. But is bigger really better? By Don Bisch Last December, when The Bank of New York and Mellon Financial announced their agreement to […]