Canadian-based fixed income assets rallied in the first quarter of 2024 as the likelihood of interest rate cuts from global central authorities increases, according to a new report by FTSE Russell. It noted improved inflation data helped boost the results from Canadian long, corporate and real return bonds in May. While Canadian high-yield credit gained […]
The University Pension Plan generated a net return of 10.2 per cent in 2023, up from a 9.1 per cent loss in 2022, according to its latest annual report. As of Dec. 31, 2023, the investment organization’s net assets increased to $11.7 billion, up from $10.8 billion in 2022. It also reported a funded status […]
The Medicus Pension Plan, a defined benefit multi-employer pension plan designed exclusively for incorporated physicians in Canada, reported a funded status of 158 per cent on a going-concern basis and a 115 per cent funded status on a solvency basis as of Jan. 1, 2024. The plan, which launched in May 2023, is designed to […]
During a panel at the Canadian Investment Review’s 2024 Global Investment Conference in April, three key thought leaders representing defined benefit pension plan sponsors shared their views on investment trends and challenges in developed and emerging markets. Investing in emerging markets brings a slate of challenges for investors, said Jean-Christophe Lermusiaux, (pictured centre) managing director of […]
The issuance of emerging market green bonds linked to sustainability and social factors is expected to grow at an annual rate of 7.1 per cent between 2023 and 2025, according to a new report by Amundi Asset Management and the International Finance Corp. It found in 2023, emerging market green bonds surged 45 per cent […]
The real estate investment arm of the Alberta Investment Management Corp. has completed the sale of $900 million in green bond offerings. The Series 6 and Series 7 unsecured notes, each valued at $450 million, are AIMCo Realty’s second and third green bond issuances under its green financing framework, according to a press release, which […]
The funded position of a typical Canadian defined benefit pension plan rose on both a solvency and accounting basis in April, according to Telus Health’s latest pension index. It found the solvency of the average DB plan rose to 106.4 per cent in April, up from 106 per cent in March. The accounting index, which […]
While real assets are largely absent among the investment options offered by Canadian defined contribution pension plans, they can offer significant long-term benefits to plan members, said Andrew Knox, managing director of Franklin Templeton Investments’ global real assets fund, during a session at Benefits Canada’s 2024 DC Plan Summit in February. “[Defined contribution] investors in […]
Institutional investors in North America owned US$56 billion worth of exchange-traded fund assets at the end of 2023, a 22 per cent increase year over year, according to a new report by S&P Global. The report, based on financial disclosures from U.S. and Canadian pension funds, endowments and foundations and sovereign wealth funds, found the […]
The recent pressure put on Canadian pensions plans from private managers and governments to re-discover an investment home bias has been met with little enthusiasm, despite special interest by both federal and provincial governments to potentially tap pension fund capital for infrastructure given that current expenditure eats up a large share of the budget. Infrastructure […]