As institutional investors navigate complex markets and demanding governance requirements, Grace Uniacke, director of alternatives solutions at Russell Investments, suggests they move their portfolios from disconnected compartments towards integrated, connected systems. “This can be done in incremental tweaks, but more so as a structural upgrade to how we design, construct and manage institutional portfolios,” she said during […]
U.S. employer health-care costs are projected to climb 9.5 per cent in 2026, pushing average plan costs above US$17,000 per employee, according to a new report by Aon. The report draws on the firm’s health value initiative database, which tracks plan costs and designs for more than 1,000 employers covering 7.7 million employees and US$120 […]
The New Brunswick Public Service Pension Plan is reporting a funded status of 136.5 per cent as at Dec. 31, 2024, and will provide a full cost-of-living adjustment of 2.01 per cent to all members. Last year, the plan returned 12.65 per cent and its long-term rate of return increased to 7.14 per cent, surpassing […]
A record number of benefits plan members are dealing with extreme levels of daily stress, according to the 2025 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey. The 27th edition of the survey, which polled 1,000 Canadian group benefits plan members and 500 plan sponsors earlier this year, found two in five (39 per cent) members said they experience […]
Canadian employers’ 2026 salary budgets are projected to rise by an average of 3.1 per cent, down slightly from the 3.2 per cent allocated in 2025, according to a new survey by Normandin Beaudry. The survey, which polled more than 1,000 employers, found 42 per cent plan on granting an average additional budget of 0.9 […]
More than four in five (81 per cent) public sector employees had access to medical or dental benefits in 2024, compared to around two-thirds (62 per cent) of private sector workers, according to Statistics Canada. Access to paid vacation leave followed a similar pattern, with more than four in five (82 per cent) public sector […]
Amid geopolitical conflict and market volatility, the volume of risk transfers among Canadian defined benefit pension plan sponsors is down roughly 60 per cent in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period last year, says Brent Simmons, senior vice-president and head of DB solutions at Sun Life Financial Inc. “The pullback that […]
An increase in market volatility is pushing asset owners to build a nimble portfolio, according to Olga Bezrokov, senior portfolio manager at Russell Investments, during a session at the Canadian Investment Review’s 2025 Risk Management Conference. A combination of geopolitical risks and vague policy signals from central banks is causing investors to reexamine how they […]
The current uncertainty around tariffs and trade policy is dominating institutional investors’ macro view of fixed income, said Alexander M. Mackey, co‐chief investment officer of fixed income at MFS Investment Management, during a session at the Canadian Investment Review’s 2025 Risk Management Conference. To reduce the noise of the uncertainty, his day-to-day focus is dominated […]
The average Canadian employer is planning to increase their salary budget by 3.5 per cent in 2026, according to a new survey by WTW. The survey, which polled more than 29,000 employers across 157 countries, found the majority of companies said they’re planning an increase of between 3.2 per cent and 3.6 per cent. Notably, […]