The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System sponsors corporation board is considering two plan design changes: the introduction of shared-risk indexing and the expansion of pension coverage to non full-time workers. On the shared-risk indexing front, the sponsors corporation board is looking at potentially reducing future inflation increases on benefits earned after Dec. 31, 2022. As […]
The novel coronavirus has brought with it an unprecedented shuttering of the global economy and an equally unprecedented policy response. The speed and scale at which central bankers and politicians have moved has already surpassed anything seen during the credit crisis. On the monetary policy front, we have seen rates cut to zero, the announcement […]
Stock picking with the right process and the right temperament works. And, contrary to popular claims, value investing is not dead. Those who claim it is dead, substantiate this by providing evidence that picking cheap stocks, meaning stocks with low price-to-earnings or price-to-book ratios, has been ineffective since the onset of the great recession. What […]
With Canada ranking only ninth out of 37 countries on the Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index, more can be done to move it up the list, said Keith Ambachtsheer, director emeritus at the International Centre for Pension Management, speaking at the Canadian Investment Review’s Plan Sponsor Exchange conference in February. Canada has an aging demographic […]
Just as the outlook for the global economy had been brightening in recent months, a new threat has suddenly emerged in the form of the viral outbreak in China. That was the cautionary message that Chairman Jerome Powell delivered Wednesday after the Federal Reserve held interest rates low after its latest policy meeting. Speaking at […]
There has been a lot of buzz about negative interest rates lately, as the idea that you would have to pay governments to borrow your money seems to turn the very foundation of finance on its head. But that is exactly what is happening right now for trillions of dollars in the world’s bond markets. […]
The days of monetary policy as the most effective tool for stimulating the economy are over, as central banks around the world are increasingly limited in the measures they can implement, according to AllianceBernstein’s chief global economist. “The ability for central banks to do more is constrained, particularly in . . . Europe and Japan,” […]
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 […]
Two questions seem to occupy pundits and popular media these days. One is why interest rates are negative and what this means. The other is whether value investing is dead. Answering the first question provides useful insights in dealing with the second question. Negative interest rates on government bonds are observed in Europe and Japan, […]
While a recession may not be likely, institutional investors can expect dampened performance in many capital markets heading into 2020, according to Bill Yun, executive vice-president at Franklin Templeton’s multi-asset solutions business, at an event in Toronto on Tuesday. Forward-looking expectations for capital markets from Canadian government bonds to emerging market equities are all in […]