Returns from short-term Government of Canada bonds and credit are rising due to the easing of interest rates by the Bank of Canada last month, according to a new report from FTSE Russell. It noted while Canadian government bonds across all maturities rallied, the gains didn’t erase overall losses in the second quarter, except for […]
Canadian-based fixed income assets rallied in the first quarter of 2024 as the likelihood of interest rate cuts from global central authorities increases, according to a new report by FTSE Russell. It noted improved inflation data helped boost the results from Canadian long, corporate and real return bonds in May. While Canadian high-yield credit gained […]
Interest rate levels are critically important to the financial health of defined benefit pension plans. Many DB plans are in their best financial positions in decades, largely due to the dramatic rise in interest rates over the past few years, but decreases in interest rates could pose a major risk for many plans. Changes in […]
The Bank of Canada held its key interest rate steady at five per cent, but hasn’t ruled out future rate hikes as price pressures remain high. “With clearer signs that monetary policy is moderating spending and relieving price pressures, governing council decided to hold the policy rate at five per cent,” said the Bank of […]
Institutional investors’ strategic approach to interest rates must evolve to properly reflect the risks and opportunities in today’s markets, according to Michael Cook, vice-president of client relations and liability-driven investment client portfolio manager at CIBC Asset Management, during a session at the Canadian Investment Review’s 2023 Risk Management Conference. The previous low in interest rates was […]
The funded position of a typical defined benefit pension plan increased on both a solvency and accounting basis during the month of June, according to the latest pension index from Telus Health. In June, the solvency of the average DB plan rose to 103.2 per cent, up from 101.4 per cent during the month of […]
The Bank of Canada raised interest rates again on Wednesday and released new projections that suggest it will take longer to get inflation back to two per cent. The central bank hiked its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, bringing it to five per cent. Forecasters were widely anticipating the central […]
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 […]
Amid the unprecedented events of the last three years, the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology pension plan has remained on course with its investment strategies, according to Asif Haque, the plan’s chief investment officer. “We held our focus on the key goal of the CAAT’s investment program. . . . The plan’s diversified asset […]
Finance’s toughest problem just got a whole lot trickier, thanks to the quandary of inflation. Legendary economist William F. Sharpe sealed his place in history when he collected the 1990 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his work on investment decision-making, but in defined contribution pension circles, the emeritus professor at Stanford University is […]