Household debt and high housing prices are complicating an otherwise fairly rosy picture of the Canadian economy, said Stephen Poloz, governor of the Bank of Canada, in a speech hosted by the CFA Society Toronto on Thursday. The bank’s most recent rate decision, which took place on Wednesday, maintained the current rate of 1.75 per cent. […]
Emerging market equities are expected to show the heftiest returns in 2019, underpinned by a stronger economic background, said William Yun, executive vice-president at Franklin Templeton Multi-Asset Solutions, at an event in Toronto on Tuesday. While the asset class is still muted compared to returns 20 years ago, the investment firm is working with the forward-looking outlook that emerging market […]
Tension between pension adequacy and sustainability is growing across the world, according to the annual Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index. The Netherlands and Denmark have the best global pension systems, with scores of 80.3 and 80.2, respectively, and both achieving A grades. They scored highly on adequacy and sustainability, while other European countries, such as Austria, […]
Nearly half (46 per cent) of Canadian employees said financial stress is impacting their workplace performance, according to a new survey by the Canadian Payroll Association. The survey also found that Canadian employees are more concerned with work-life balance (33 per cent) than they are with earning higher wages (26 per cent). This is especially true of […]
Global growth on track for 2018, despite challenges: report
Our interview with Harvard professor, Nicholas Burns.
The International Monetary Fund set an optimistic tone for global growth as it updated its latest world economic outlook on Monday. The update noted that last year’s projected global growth of 3.7 per cent was slightly higher than anticipated. It attributes the better-than-expected gains to “notable upside surprises in Europe and Asia.” For 2018 and 2019, the report […]
A record-setting bull run in equities can have investors feeling like the markets are almost too good to be true. So what unexpected events are on the horizon that could bolster the vague feeling of unease? Three key factors that could seriously impede economic growth in the coming year are debt, demographics and economic inequality, said Eric […]
An optimist and a pessimist meet for a coffee. “Things can’t possibly get any better,” the optimist says. The pessimist responds: “I think you’re right.” That’s how David Rosenberg, chief economist at Gluskin Sheff and Associates Inc., described the psychology of this “classic late cycle.” He wasn’t the optimist in the scenario. Speaking at an […]
As 2018 approaches, investors are seeing the familiar rush of reports and predictions about the economic outlook for next year. One of the latest reports comes from BlackRock Inc., which noted the effects of low volatility may persist amid a stable economic backdrop. The report, however, warned that even a small increase in volatility could scare markets as […]