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 […]
The hedge fund industry is still growing and with pension funds investing in them, there is need for greater transparency. That’s according to Gary Witt, managing director, alternative investments with Moody’s Investor Service in New York. Speaking at a CIBC Mellon breakfast seminar in Toronto, Witt estimated that global hedge fund assets under management stand […]
Tobacco, weapons, child labour, shady executives: some investors think these things are bad enough to avoid while others are not as concerned. In the pension world, avoiding the bad stuff used to be called ethical investing, and then socially responsible investing(SRI). These days, the term environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)is making waves, even at […]
It’s not too far-fetched to assume that if one sees a problem coming, one would try to avoid it by making a change or taking an offensive stance. But that doesn’t appear to be the case for plan sponsors. A new report from the Ottawa-based Conference Board of Canada shows that Canadian plan sponsors admittedly […]
© Copyright 2006 Rogers Publishing Ltd. The following article first appeared in the February 2006 edition of BENEFITS CANADA magazine. Reaching out – 2006 Custody Report Many custodians looked beyond Canada in 2006 as they invested in new technological systems and new partners that can transition their largest clients into international investments. But are institutional […]