While politics plays a role in most investment decisions, it tends to arise on a fairly localized basis, says Michael Craig, head of the asset allocation and derivatives teams at TD Asset Management Inc. In addition, its prominence as a factor usually rises and falls on a cycle, slipping easily off investors’ radar in times […]
The majority of institutional investors believe the Russian invasion of Ukraine will be the catalyst of a period of high inflation and low employment around the globe, according to new survey by London-based CoreData Research. The survey, which polled 200 global institutional investors, found about a fifth (18 per cent) of respondents believe the invasion […]
The announcement of a new multi-employer pension plan for Canadian physicians was the most read story over the past week on BenefitsCanada.com. Here are the five most popular news stories of the week: 1. New multi-employer pension plan coming for incorporated physicians 2. Employees want flexible working, better benefits to return to workplace: survey 3. After a strong 2021, […]
The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan generated an 11.28 per cent return in 2021, led by its public and private equity portfolios. “It was a strong year — we had a return of 11.28 per cent and hit an all-time high for our assets,” says Jeff Wendling, the pension fund’s president and chief executive officer. […]
The second year of the coronavirus pandemic offered defined benefit pension plan sponsors a reprieve from the chaos sown in financial markets during its first year. “A lot of pension plans ended up roughly where they started in 2020, but it was a very bumpy road,” says Gavin Benjamin, a retirement and financial solutions partner […]
In response to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Alberta Investment Management Corp. and the British Columbia Investment Management Corp. are divesting from Russian assets. “As Alberta’s investment manager, this decision is both values- and value-driven,” said a press release. “It reflects a change in the price of geopolitical risk and sustained impairment […]
The funded position of a typical defined benefit pension plan decreased on a solvency basis but increased on an accounting basis in January, according to LifeWorks Inc.’s latest monthly report. During the first month of the year, the solvency index, which provides an indication of changes in the solvency funding level of the average pension […]
Defined benefit pension plans are lowering their long-term return expectations, according to research from U.S. consulting firm, NEPC. According to the NEPC’s survey of corporate and healthcare DB pensions, a third of plan sponsors now have a return assumption of six per cent or less, compared with 20 per cent that said the same in […]
The Ontario Securities Commission has laid out its priorities for 2019-20, which focus on promoting confidence in Ontario’s capital markets and reducing regulatory burden. In terms of confidence building, the commission said it intends to continue consulting on client-focused reforms and on the Canadian Securities Administrators’ policy consultations on mutual fund embedded commissions; improve the […]
Trump's recent firing of moderate advisors could mean more extreme moves for the U.S.