An article highlighting CGI Group’s initiatives for Mental Health Awareness Month was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com this week. Here are the top five human resources, benefits, pension and investment stories of the past week: 1. CGI Group promoting mental-health support through compassion tool, employee recognition 2. Gen Z reports worsened communication skills due to remote working, […]
The federal government’s promise to encourage Canadian institutional investors to invest more domestically is taking shape with two key initiatives found in the 2024 budget. The first involves the creation of a working group led by Stephen Poloz, former Governor of the Bank of Canada, to explore domestic opportunities for Canadian institutional investors in various […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is among a group of investors providing up to €750 million in financing to Vantage Data Centers. The Caisse and Ares Management are each contributing up to €300 million, while Schroders Capital’s private debt and credit alternatives team is contributing up to €150 million. The investment will […]
Amid a challenging private market fundraising landscape, the flow of co-investment deals increased dramatically in 2023, according to a report by alternative investment management and advisory firm Hamilton Lane. The report found the total value of co-investment deal flows reached US$8.87 billion in 2023, an increase from US$5.21 billion in 2022. The fourth quarter of […]
The British Columbia Investment Management Corp. is selling more than US$1 billion worth of private equity funds to Ardian, a France-based independent private equity investment company, according to reporting by Bloomberg. Although it’s unclear which assets the BCI intends to sell, last June, Bloomberg also reported the investment manager was considering the sale of roughly $2 […]
The Independent Electricity System Operator’s pension plan is in the midst of a comeback from a period of heightened post-coronavirus pandemic volatility, with diversification as the key to its investment roadmap, says Jeannette Briggs, the organization’s director of corporate finance who served as chair of its pension management committee from 2021 to 2023. After conducting […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Gildan Activewear Inc. have reached an agreement that will see the Montreal-based apparel manufacturer issue $200 million in senior unsecured notes on a private placement basis to the investment organization. Gildan will issue notes with an annual interest rate of six per cent and will mature […]
The recent pressure put on Canadian pensions plans from private managers and governments to re-discover an investment home bias has been met with little enthusiasm, despite special interest by both federal and provincial governments to potentially tap pension fund capital for infrastructure given that current expenditure eats up a large share of the budget. Infrastructure […]
Four in 10 (39 per cent) Canadian institutional investors say they have either direct or indirect exposure to cryptocurrency, according to a new survey by KPMG in Canada and the Canadian Association of Alternative Assets and Strategies. The survey, which 31 institutional investors and 34 financial services organizations, found three-quarters (75 per cent) of institutional […]
The average Canadian defined benefit pension plan posted a median return of 3.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2024, according to a new report by RBC Investor Services. The report, which tracks performance and asset allocation across Canadian DB plans, credited the positive investment return to the strong performance of equities. Read: Average […]