China’s V-shaped economic recovery continued for a fourth consecutive month in June, led by strong domestic demand. And if the novel coronavirus remains under control, China can remain the world’s best consumer story. In China, consumer spending came back with force. Inflation-adjusted retail sales plummeted to a 23.7 per cent year-over-year decline in January and […]
The Public Sector Pension Investment Board posted a negative 0.6 per cent net return for the fiscal year, which ended March 31, 2020. Severe market declines in the lead up to the end of March took a heavy toll. However, the fund did outperform its reference portfolio, which saw a negative 2.2 per cent return. […]
During the global financial crisis, the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. implemented a new governance report to bring together all elements of its investment portfolio and communicate risk to the board, says Max Giolitti, the fund’s former head of asset allocation and risk, and current chief risk officer at Verus Investments. The work began by educating […]
The economy appears to have avoided a worst-case scenario due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Bank of Canada said Wednesday as it kept its key interest rate steady at its lower bound. The bank left its target for the overnight rate unchanged at 0.25 per cent, which it has said is as low as it […]
Financial markets are showing signs of concern about how well companies can weather the coronavirus economic crisis, the Bank of Canada said in a report outlining issues the pandemic is having on business and household debt. The central bank has spent the last two months making a flurry of policy decisions that include slashing the […]
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 […]
Trading volume for exchange-traded funds is rising. And as such, more ETF trades are flowing through trading desks. For ETFs with underlying securities that have different characteristics than equities, such as credit instruments or fixed income, it’s sometimes unclear who should be handling these transactions, according to a report by Greenwich Associates based on interviews […]
Global growth slowed to three per cent on an annual basis in the middle of 2019 and is expected to remain below three per cent for the next 18 months, according to a Q4 report by Aviva Investors. “That would represent the weakest sustained period for over a decade,” the report said. “We expect all […]
In this late-cycle environment, the Hydro Québec pension plan is cautious about credit and is maintaining its liquidity, says Jean-François Pépin, senior director of financing, treasury and pension fund at Hydro Québec. At the end of 2017, the defined benefit plan had $24.7 billion in net assets. Invested in a variety of asset classes, including fixed […]
There are opportunities in global investment grade credit - if you know where to look.