The OPSEU Pension Trust is making an additional purchase of $100 million in Ontario government green bonds, bringing its allocation in the asset to about one per cent of its total holdings. The bonds are a tool the provincial government uses to finance transit and energy efficiency projects, according to the press release. “As a […]
The complicated relationship between real estate and interest rates makes it important to know the role different types of properties play in a portfolio and to use public real estate for liquidity to keep a focus on core property, said Derek Warren, vice-president at Lincluden Investment Management. Speaking during a session at the 2018 Defined […]
The solvency positions of Canadian defined benefit pension plans declined in the fourth quarter of 2018 after experiencing gains in the first nine months of the year, according to Mercer’s latest pension health index. The median solvency ratio dropped to 95 per cent at the end of 2018 from 102 per cent at the end of […]
The largest corporate pension plans in the United States experienced a slight drop in their funded status at the end of 2018 due to the sharp decline in equities, according to an analysis by Willis Towers Watson. The study, which looked at the defined benefit pension plans of 389 Fortune 1000 companies, found their pension assets […]
Bond correlations are a “very dull topic,” admits Edouard Senechal, a senior research analyst on the dynamic allocation strategies team at William Blair. And yet, when the correlation between stocks and bonds changes — and the past 50 years has witnessed two shifts — bonds have very different portfolio-stabilizing characteristics. That these correlations would have […]
Though financial markets were volatile and bond yields dropped, Canadian defined benefit pension plans benefited from higher asset returns in November, with median solvency standing at 100.6 per cent, according to Aon’s monthly survey. Among the plans surveyed, 48 per cent were more than fully funded, down just 0.2 percentage points from the end of […]
Will the environment of rising rates continue? And if so, over what period? And where can long-term investors find opportunities? Canadian Investment Review asked Robert Spector, fixed income portfolio manager at MFS Investment Management for his views. Spector says he thinks there will be further monetary tightening, which will have implications for short-term interest rates, […]
For the first time since the Financial Services Commission of Ontario began monitoring defined benefit pension solvency in 2009, the province’s DB plans posted a median solvency ratio above 100 per cent in the third quarter of 2018. As of Sept. 30, the solvency ratio reached 101 per cent, up from 97 per cent the previous quarter. […]
While the financial sector is more likely poised for steady, sustainable growth than it was 10 years ago, worrying trends provide hints about what may cause the next downturn, according to a strategy note from Unigestion. “In a nutshell, in terms of global growth, in terms of compared to a 2008 situation, the path of growth […]
Alternative asset funds are adapting to keep pace with the significant and growing demand from investors, according to new research by the Alternative Investment Management Association. Institutional investors are looking to the funds amid ultra-low bond yields because of their need for steady performance. While the traditional appeal has been the funds’ “high-octane performance,” institutional investors are hungry […]