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 […]
The Public Sector Pension Investment Board is selling a minority stake in AGS Airports to alternative asset manager Blackstone Inc. The deal will give Blackstone a 22 per cent stake in the firm. Airport operator AviAlliance, a wholly-owned subsidiary of PSP Investments, remains as majority shareholder with a 78 per cent stake. “We are pleased […]
Increased investment volatility could trigger additional questions on the decisions of Canadian pension funds as governance reviews come into focus, says Level Chan, a partner in the pensions practice at Stewart McKelvey. “Where there’s greater volatility, we could expect that triggering more questions about how pension plans are weathering the storm.” When responding to additional […]
The Public Sector Pension Investment Board is appointing Caroline Vermette as senior vice-president and chief financial officer and Alexandre Roy as senior vice-president and chief risk officer. Vermette brings more than 20 years of financial leadership to the investment organization. Most recently, she was senior vice-president of internal audit at the National Bank of Canada. […]
An article on an Ontario court’s decision that an employer’s return-to-workplace request amounted to constructive dismissal was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com this past week. Here are the top five human resources, benefits, pension and investment stories of the last week: 1. Ontario court rules employer’s return-to-workplace request amounts to constructive dismissal 2. Nestle, Unifor […]
The British Columbia Investment Management Corp. is overseeing $2 billion on behalf of a not-for-profit organization representing the financial interest of 325 First Nations across Canada. The Four Pillars Society has selected the BCI to oversee an investment mandate established as part of a $2.8 billion settlement fund granted by the Government of Canada for […]
Canadian institutional investors are prioritizing efficient access to liquidity and high-quality brokerage services in the domestic equity market, according to a new report from Crisil Coalition Greenwich. It found the average estimated total Canadian cash equity spend grew five per cent up from $450 million in 2023 to $475 million in 2024, noting Canadian trading […]
The Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System is closing a new offering of term notes worth US$1 billion. The notes, which carry a five-year maturity rate, are priced at a yield of 4.43 per cent. The offering represents the ninth offering by the OMERS using U.S. currency as sovereign, supranational and agency bonds issuer. The offering […]
The Canada-Wide Industrial Pension Plan is reporting a return of 10.9 per cent for 2024, down slightly from 11.7 per cent in 2023. It also reported five- and 10-year annualized returns of eight per cent and 8.3 per cent, respectively, with assets of roughly $900 million. As of its last actuarial valuation on Jan. 1, […]
The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is reporting a net return of 9.4 per cent for 2024, up from 1.9 per cent in 2023, according to its latest annual report. The investment organization underperformed its benchmark return of 12.9 per cent, equivalent to $7.6 billion in negative value add. Its net assets grew to $266.3 billion, […]