The funded positions of Canadian defined benefit pension plans continued to recover in the third quarter of 2020, but major risks lie ahead, according to both Mercer Canada’s latest pension health index and Aon’s latest median solvency ratio survey. Mercer’s index, which represents the solvency ratio of a hypothetical DB pension plan, increased from 101 […]
The Bank of Canada sought Wednesday to temper economic excitement about a sharper-than-expected rebound from the depths of the coronavirus crisis, pointing to worrying trends that signal all is still not well. In a statement, the central bank’s governing council said the bounce-back activity in the third quarter looks to be faster than it anticipated […]
While massive monetary policy response didn’t drive inflation following the 2008/09 financial crisis, institutional investors are mulling over whether things may be different this time. The global economy has rarely seen such a swift willingness to engage with economic calamity on both monetary and fiscal levels, says Erik Weisman, chief economist and fixed income portfolio […]
As central banks stepped into the market to fund operating losses, the ability to raise capital has usurped the natural function of markets: price discovery, says Rob Almeida, investment officer and global investment strategist at MFS Investment Management. Many companies have experienced an epic year raising capital because both good and bad businesses have been […]
With central banks targeting short-term interest rates near zero and engaging in quantitative easing, will they resort to other monetary policy tools like yield curve control to further stimulate the economy? Yield curve control is when a central bank targets a longer-term interest rate and then pledges to buy the required amount of bonds to […]
Monetary and fiscal policy-makers around the world are taking different approaches to tackling the current economic crisis, but their actions today will pose challenges down the road, says Erik Weisman, chief economist at MFS Investment Management. Looking at combined monetary and fiscal policy responses, the U.S. is likely the most aggressive, while Europe and Japan […]
Historically, financial institution decision-makers come from the same educational backgrounds, which have rewarded them for thinking in linear and conventional ways, said David McWilliams, professor of global economics at Trinity College Dublin, during a session at the Canadian Investment Review’s Plan Sponsor Exchange conference in February. The single biggest concentration of conventional thinkers is deep […]
As financial professionals, we deal with money daily, but few of us have the time to step back and think about what exactly it is that we are investing, trading, or risk managing. Money is just there in a way similar to gravity or oxygen. This lack of scrutiny has allowed money to become a […]
While there are signals that the global economy is slowing down, it doesn’t appear to be quite at recession levels. “That has major investment implications,” said Alec Young, managing director of global markets research at FTSE Russell, in a webinar on Wednesday. Trade uncertainty is a big part of recent sluggishness in markets, he said. […]
Central banks seem to be changing their tunes, with the Federal Reserve expected to cut rates twice before the year is out, according to Manulife Investment Management’s third quarter outlook. The European Central Bank, noted the outlook, is also likely to take a move dovish tone, with additional monetary easing measures, including rate cuts, expected […]