An article announcing the finalists in the 2024 Workplace Benefits Awards was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com this past week. Here are the top five human resources, benefits, pension and investment stories of the last week: 1. Who are the finalists of the 2024 Workplace Benefits Awards? 2. Ford, Lowes among employers pulling back from DEI policies 3. 68% […]
Institutional investors face several challenges in proving the value of sustainable investments, said Arijit Banik, treasurer at York University, during a session at the Canadian Investment Review’s 2024 Endowment & Foundation Investment Forum in June. It’s difficult to measure the impact of an investment, even the cleanest ones, with the current measurement framework available to […]
To reach 2050 net-zero targets, investment volume in U.S. and European clean power markets has to be scaled on an annualized basis from now until 2030, said Daniel Sausmikat, partner of origination and execution at InfraRed Capital Partners, during the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2024 Global Investment Conference held in April. However, progress isn’t going to […]
An article on the federal government’s national pharmacare bill receiving approval in the House of Commons was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com this week. Here are the top five human resources, benefits, pension and investment stories of the past week: 1. Pharmacare bill passes in House of Commons, heads to Senate 2. 32% of Canadian SMEs facing […]
An article highlighting CGI Group’s initiatives for Mental Health Awareness Month was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com this week. Here are the top five human resources, benefits, pension and investment stories of the past week: 1. CGI Group promoting mental-health support through compassion tool, employee recognition 2. Gen Z reports worsened communication skills due to remote working, […]
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board earned an eight per cent return last year but significantly underperformed the 19.9 per cent return of its reference portfolio. The lower return can be explained in part by higher volatility in the stock-focused benchmark portfolio compared with the diversified, long-term return focus for the pension fund, says John Graham, the […]
Roughly seven in 10 (73 per cent) Ontario Pension Board plan members believe environmental, social and governance factors should play a critical role in the plan’s investment considerations, according to a new survey included in the investment organization’s inaugural ESG report. The survey, which polled roughly 10,000 plan members, found nearly two-fifths (39 per cent) of […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is reporting $53 billion in low-carbon assets, including $15 billion in Quebec, representing an overall increase of $35 billion in low-carbon assets since 2017, according to the investment organization’s latest sustainable investing report. It found the investment organization has more than $330 billion in assets with a […]
As I write this column, I’m reflecting on the spectrum of weather I’ve witnessed this past winter. From my office window in southwestern Ontario, I looked out onto snowy rooftops for maybe a week over the last several months. That’s contrasted with a recent trip to Nova Scotia, where a series of winter storms brought […]
An academic says environmental, social and governance terminology should evolve alongside understanding of the concept, while a consultant favours a focus on substance over form. Amir Akbari, assistant professor of finance, McMaster University As our understanding of sustainable development evolves, so, too, should our characterization of responsible investment. For instance, consider the United Nation’s Kunming-Montreal Global […]