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, […]
An uneasy economic landscape between Canada and the U.S. is pushing the University Pension Plan to perform more stress testing for new and existing investments south of the border, says chief investment officer Aaron Bennett. “It also makes us think a lot more about global inflation and how should we be thinking about [it] in […]
Many factors have contributed to a proliferation of debt at the sovereign level, including the coronavirus pandemic and central bankers subsequent fight against inflation. “A lot of themes we’re talking about have led to some scarcity, supply chain fragility leading to that inflationary impulse in tandem with continued fiscal largess,” said Renato Latini, portfolio manager […]
The move towards a core-plus mindset, first-time major allocations to stand-alone credit strategies and a focus on less liquid assets are the top trends in credit among institutional investors, according to Andrzej Skiba, managing director and head of U.S. fixed income on the BlueBay fixed income team at RBC Global Asset Management (U.S.) Inc., speaking during […]
In the face of increasing risk, large asset owners are turning to private market allocations, according to a new report by Mercer. The report, which surveyed asset owners representing more than US$2 trillion in assets collectively, found nearly half (45 per cent) of institutional investors increased their allocation to private markets. In the next year, […]
With climate change affecting the planet and artificial intelligence disrupting the concept of work, a profound generational shift is underway in how young people are thinking about their futures. “When previous generations worried about retirement, they mainly focused on financial risk, market turndown, inflation and health-care costs,” said Kelly Peters (pictured left), behavioural economics leader […]
Home-country bias is a conversation that ebbs and flows, with U.S. investment returns since the 2008/09 financial crisis reigniting the conversation, said Jon Knowles, institutional portfolio manager in global asset allocation at Fidelity Investments. However, it’s important to ask how to appropriately deal with home-country bias against a backdrop where one market and limited diversification […]