An article on how employers can support employees’ mental health amid the ongoing threat of U.S. tariffs 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. Communication of benefits, transparency keys to supporting employee mental-health amid tariff dispute: […]
The emergence of the Chinese artificial intelligence platform DeepSeek-R1 has raised questions on how it will change the AI value chain, from providers to consumers to real-world business applications of the technology. According to a report by the BBC, researchers with Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Basic Technology Research Co. Ltd., the company behind DeepSeek, claimed […]
The Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System is appointing Alexander Fraser as executive vice-president and global head of private equity, effective March 17. He’ll succeed Michael Graham, who retired from the position earlier this year, and will oversee the OMERS’ global private equity business, which manages roughly $27.5 billion in assets. Most recently, Fraser was a […]
The Public Sector Pension Investment Board is buying a 7.51 per cent ownership stake in the 407 Express Toll Route from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The price for the strategic stake in the Greater Toronto Area highway asset will cost roughly $2.39 billion payable at closing and a deferred payment to be made […]
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is appointing Ben Meng as managing director and head of investment portfolio management, effective immediately. Most recently, Meng was executive vice-president, chair of Asia-Pacific and the executive sponsor of sustainability at Franklin Templeton. Prior to that, he was chief investment officer at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System. Read: […]
While community bonds, an investment asset offered by not-for-profits looking to raise capital for socially conscious projects, are growing in Canada, they don’t match the investment needs of institutional investors, says Rod Lohin, executive director at the Lee-Chin Institute for Corporate Citizenship at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. “[Community bonds are] just […]
Institutional investors are looking for bond dealers to invest more in increased automation supported by more data and more application programming interfaces, according to a new survey from Coalition Greenwich. The survey, which polled 67 buy-side corporate bond traders located in the U.S. and Europe, found nearly half (47 per cent) want to see improved […]
The OPSEU Pension Trust is reporting a return of 9.6 per cent in 2024, according to its latest year-end report. It found, as at Dec. 31, 2024, the plan’s net assets stood at $26.8 billion, up from $25 billion in 2023. The organization also reported a funded status of 100 per cent for the 16th […]
The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan is reporting a 9.7 per cent return as at Dec. 31, 2024, with net assets increasing to $123 billion, up from $112.6 billion in 2023. Public equities (17.9 per cent) and private equities (17.9 per cent) accounted for the highest returns in 2024 within the HOOP’s portfolio. Infrastructure (12.3 […]
Pension plans play an important economic role by distributing billions of dollars annually to retirees, who then spend this money in the economy while enjoying a certain level of financial comfort. Businesses providing goods and services, in turn, purchase products and services from various suppliers, who do the same with their own suppliers, and so […]