Defined contribution plan sponsors must carefully consider diversification and risk as they evaluate their target-date fund strategy to ensure it’s meeting the needs of members. But while these terms are commonly used in the industry, they can take on different meanings when it comes to target-date funds, said Ruthann Pritchard, institutional portfolio manager of global […]
Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, 43 per cent of institutional investors and wealth managers say they have a more positive view of cryptocurrencies, while 35 per cent say it’s improved slightly. The research, which was commissioned by London-based Nickel Digital Asset Management Ltd., found 78 per cent of respondents now have a positive […]
While it’s easy to get into the weeds of inflation in the current economic environment, the fundamental question for DC plan sponsors and their members is its impact on a traditional 60/40 multi-asset class investment portfolio. “In normal times, that diversification benefit that we know and love in a multi-asset class portfolio, where stocks do […]
While target-date funds are highly prevalent in defined contribution pension plans’ investment portfolios, gaining space as the default of choice, areas of improvement exist in terms of educating plan members about the option. During Benefits Canada‘s 2021 DC Plan Summit, Jessica Sclafani (pictured), director and DC strategist in the investment solutions group at MFS Investment Management, […]
In the early days of 2020, no one could have foreseen the social and economic havoc the coronavirus pandemic would wreak on the world. Nearly two years later, as markets and economies continue to recover, Canadian pension plan sponsors are looking to their money managers to help light the way to a brighter financial future. […]
Despite the low-yield environment, fixed income continues to play an important role for institutional investors looking to make their portfolios work harder in a risk-controlled fashion, said Jeffrey Moore, a portfolio manager at Fidelity Investments Inc., during a session at the Canadian Investment Review’s 2021 Global Investment Conference. “For the bond market to hurt, there needs […]
As places of economic activity, flood plains have their advantages — just ask the ancient Mesopotamians or the staff of the Winnipeg-based Teachers’ Retirement Allowance Fund. “Those of you who have been to our offices will know we’re right at the intersection of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. We are right in the flood plain […]
Small-balance credit—a subset of alternative credit gaining traction in the United States as fintech makes modest consumer and business loans more investable—could be a yield generator for institutional investors. In addition, this type of credit could be a solid diversification tool, says Colin Kilgour, principal at Kilgour Williams Capital in Toronto. His firm runs the […]
Despite several bumps in the decade since the 2008/09 financial crisis, the swift and brutal crash in global equity prices when the coronavirus was declared a pandemic sent pension investors reaching for their playbooks to implement defensive strategies to mitigate the damage. “People have worked very hard at just acting on the set strategies that […]
The San Bernardino County Employees’ Retirement Association implemented a simple innovation 15 years ago that’s added nearly US$1 billion to the fund’s total value as of Aug. 31, 2020. That innovation is “informed rebalancing,” said Arun Muralidhar, adjunct professor of finance at George Washington University, when speaking at the Canadian Investment Review’s Investment Innovation Conference […]