Looking at South Korea today, it’s hard to believe the country was one of the world’s poorest just a few decades ago. But since the 1960s, its economy has been growing quickly. “In fact, from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, it had one of the highest growth rates in the world, and at times in […]
Schroders is appointing Marc Brookman as chief executive officer of its North American operations. Karl Dasher, the current CEO of North America and co-head of fixed income, will be leaving the firm at the end of the year. Before joining Schroders in 2018 as deputy CEO of North America, Brookman was managing director and head […]
The solvency positions of Canadian defined benefit pension plans declined slightly in the third quarter of 2019, according to new surveys from Aon and Mercer. Aon’s latest median solvency ratio survey reported a drop to 98.6 per cent from 99.3 per cent in the second quarter, while Mercer’s pension health index recorded 94 per cent […]
Romania will be reclassified from a frontier to a secondary emerging market and Tanzania will become a frontier market, effective September 2020, according to the equity side of FTSE Russell’s latest classification review. Argentina was removed from the watch list for potential reclassification as a secondary emerging market because it has imposed capital controls. And […]
In the current market environment, there may be good reasons for investors to consider increasing their portfolio’s allocations to cash, according to a new report by Mercer. At the end of August 2019, cash yielded more than long bonds, says Dave Makarchuk, partner and Western Canada wealth business leader at Mercer, noting Canadian 91-day treasury […]
After years of dramatic post-Soviet growth, Poland is a major contender in the global marketplace. However, it’s a mixed bag for institutional investors, who are finding both opportunities and limitations in the market. The country is holding up well in an increasingly challenging global environment where other economies are seeing growth slow, said Rachel Van Elkan, the […]
A lot of ink has poured into the discussion of an inverted yield curve, and what it means, yet I am still unsure if people understand whether an inverted yield curve is a precursor of a recession or not. The fear of an inverted yield curve relates to historical evidence, which shows that an inverted […]
With pension portfolios continuing to diversify globally, the practical and political decisions made by heads of state matter to institutional investors more than ever. But it’s a tall order to measure the risks around these decisions. In response to increasing demand for reliable data, Sustainalytics is revamping its risk ratings system for sovereign fixed income […]
The market value of assets held by Canadian trusteed pension plans hit $1.97 trillion in the first quarter of 2019, an increase of five per cent from the last quarter of 2018, according to new data from Statistics Canada. Year over year, the market value of assets rose 3.6 per cent. The total includes assets […]
Rewind to August 2015. The Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers’ Pension Plan was underfunded on both a solvency and going-concern basis, at 43.7 per cent and 65 per cent, respectively. Fast forward to year-end 2018 and it sits at a healthy 101.7 per cent on a going-concern basis. The turnaround stems from substantial changes to governance, […]