OMERS Ventures, the venture capital investment arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, is expanding into Europe with the launch of a 300 million euro fund. Focusing on innovative technology startups, the fund’s aim is to support a multi-year global strategy for OMERS, following a major uptick in startup activity in Europe, according to a release. […]
Artificial intelligence and blockchain are buzzwords in virtually every industry, but there are specific ways these technologies can make improvements in the pension world, according to Serge Boccassini, manager for defined contribution product solutions at Northern Trust. “How can it be used to help people save more for retirement [and] save better for retirement? And […]
Many investors believe the end of the current economic cycle is coming, according to Invesco’s latest global fixed income survey. While 49 per cent of respondents said they expect the current cycle to last one or two more years, a slim majority (52 per cent) of North American investors said it will end earlier. Investors in […]
Global institutional investors are considering different portfolio constructions to ensure outperformance in what they increasingly worry is a lower return environment, according to a new survey by Fidelity Investments. The survey, which polled 905 institutional investors in 25 countries with combined assets under management of US$29 trillion, found investors with at least $1 billion in AUM expected to make the largest […]
In 2017, New Jersey’s Police and Firemen’s Retirement System took a closer look at its investment in Nike Inc. following an advertising campaign featuring former National Football League player Colin Kaepernick, who had ignited controversy in 2016 by taking a knee during a pre-game national anthem in protest of the police treatment and killings of […]
As part of an ongoing joint venture, the Public Sector Pension Investment Board is purchasing a purpose-built student accommodation in London, England. Together with Greystar Real Estate Partners and Allianz Real Estate, the PSP is taking on the property, called Paul St. East, from Apache Capital Partners for more than $241 million. The acquisition is part of the Chapter […]
The British Columbia Investment Management Corp. is teaming up with RBC Global Asset Management Inc. and QuadReal Property Group on a project involving $7 billion worth of commercial real estate. The venture will bring together more than 40 of the BCI’s existing Canadian real estate assets in one portfolio. The BCI and the newly minted RBC Canadian […]
The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan grew its assets to $79 billion in 2018, up from $77.8 billion at the end of 2017. However, the plan’s funded status fell slightly to 121 per cent, down from 122 per cent the previous year. It eked out a positive 2.17 per cent return in 2018, beating its benchmark, which returned […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has led a series D financing totalling US$150 million for Mofang Apartments, an institutional rental company based in Shanghai, China. “As a long-term investor, [the Caisse] seeks to be a constructive shareholder, working together with the management and partners to build good companies,” said Meng Ann Lim, […]
Canadian institutional investors are taking on more private credit, both as a replacement for equity, as well as a tool to enhance their fixed income allocations, said Janet Rabovsky, partner at Ellement Consulting Group in a webinar presented by the Canadian Investment Review on Tuesday. For pension plans in particular, the equity-like return that private […]