As global markets navigate turbulent economic waters, active management is proving once again to be a lifeline for institutional investors to ensure their portfolios ride out the storm. Pension funds are currently operating amid uncertainty and potential risk, says Ruslan Goyenko, an associate professor of finance at McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management. “There are […]
To find opportunity in times of volatility, institutional investors must consider their objectives and then expand their toolkit, said Saurabh Sud, a portfolio manager at T. Rowe Price, during the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2023 Investment Innovation Conference in November. It’s been a challenging environment for most fixed-rate assets with surging yields and higher volatility. As a […]
Being systematic doesn’t mean overlooking the fundamental risks in the corporate credit asset class, said Scott Richardson, senior vice-president and director of systematic credit at Acadian Asset Management, during the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2023 Investment Innovation Conference in November. “What’s the risk? It’s a company — they make stuff [and] chose to fund themselves in a […]
More than half (53 per cent) of the world’s largest pension funds say the prospect of a global recession is their No. 1 short-term concern and the same percentage expect a recession to take place in the next 12 months, according to a new survey by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum. The survey, which […]
North American institutional investors raised $749.7 billion, nearly half (49 per cent) of the $1.53 trillion total private capital raised globally between the second half of 2022 and the end of May 2023, according to a report by Preqin. It found the weakest period for deal activity since the start of the coronavirus pandemic was […]
Amid concerns of energy independence and rising costs, institutional investors are increasing their investments in U.S. power plants and electricity-generating assets, said Aleksandar Andonov, associate professor of finance at the University of Amsterdam, during a webinar hosted by the International Centre for Pension Management. Andonov shared the results of a study he conducted in partnership […]
The median solvency ratio of Ontario defined benefit pension plans rose during the first quarter of 2023, from 112 per cent at the beginning of the year to 115 per cent at the end of March, according to the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario’s latest pension solvency report. During the quarter, pension fund investment returns averaged […]
Despite many institutional investors pressing pause on their real estate activities in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, those that keep calm and carry on with a focus on diversification and innovation are poised to emerge as winners. “Real estate values, like other investment vehicles, can vary at different times based on shifting demand […]
Defined benefit pension plan sponsors using overlay strategies will gain more flexibility amid rising inflation now that the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions has released guidance allowing them to disregard the overlay when measuring going-concern liabilities, says James Koo, a partner in Aon’s wealth solutions division. In May 2022, the OSFI raised the maximum […]
Global pension assets fell 16.7 per cent to US$47.9 trillion in 2022, driven largely by a correction in fixed income and equities markets, according to a new report by WTW’s Thinking Ahead Institute. While the report found Canada’s pension asset values dropped by about 18 per cent in 2022, as of last August, it held roughly six […]