More than two-fifths of small- and medium-sized employers say labour shortages (46 per cent) and employee retention (42 per cent) are among their top business concerns for 2024, according to a new survey by Peninsula Employment Services Ltd. The survey, which polled 79,000 SMEs across Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and the U.K., found more […]
Despite this year’s extreme volatility, the past ten years have been an extraordinary time to be an equity investor. This can be seen by looking at the so-called equity risk premium, which is simply the difference between returns on global stock markets and risk-free assets, such as U.S. dollar bank deposits. Over the very long […]
As part of the federal government’s debt management strategy, it’s increasing long-term debt issuance. In particular, the government will be increasing issuance of the 10-year and 30-year bonds for 2020-2021 to an unprecedented combined amount of $106 billion, according to the federal economic and fiscal snapshot from July 8. The issuance is roughly five times […]
While factor behaviour tends to be consistent in market crashes and corrections, individual factor performance varies over the medium term. As such, institutional investors should maintain diversified exposure across key equity factors including value, quality, momentum, size and low volatility, according to a new paper by Mercer. The paper explored the past three financial crises: […]
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned Wednesday that the viral epidemic is endangering the modest economic recovery that followed a collapse in hiring and spending this spring. As a result, he said, the Fed plans to keep interest rates pinned near zero well into the future. That faltering economy, pressured by a resurgence of the […]
With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to rock the global economy, private equity exits have largely come to a halt since mid-March, according to a report from McKinsey & Co. “The results of the pandemic have been startling,” it noted. “With a couple of exceptions—such as structured transactions and deals signed before the crisis—traditional PE exits […]
The current market environment isn’t like a regular market correction, but more like a natural disaster, says Joseph Connolly, vice-president of asset and risk management at Morneau Shepell Ltd. In the current context, investors should be doing more monitoring and looking at more timely data because mid-month or mid-quarter results may be stale. “We’re definitely […]
Japanification is a term describing the spread of low growth and low inflation around the world. Speaking at the Canadian Investment Review’s 2019 Defined Benefit Investment Forum in Toronto on Dec. 6, Charles Lannon, head of equities at Cidel Asset Management Inc., discussed whether Europe and the United States are destined for a similar fate […]
For intergenerational investors like foreign pension plans that have been ramping up exposure to alternative assets and leveraging their patient capital, it’s worth paying attention to Indonesia’s potential. “If you follow the logic that the country’s going to be the fourth or fifth largest economy in the world . . . then to me it’s […]
South Africa’s economy has been sluggish in recent years, but upcoming changes could provide hope for institutional investors considering opportunities in the country. Its economy has been in a low-to-modest growth mode, said Falilou Fall, senior economist at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, during the Canadian Investment Review’s podcast “Pension Passport.” He highlighted […]