In a move widely anticipated by the financial sector, the Bank of Canada is increasing its target for the overnight rate to 0.5 per cent. “Persistently elevated inflation is increasing the risk that longer-run inflation expectations could drift upwards,” said the bank in a press release. “The bank will use its monetary policy tools to […]
The Bank of Canada kept its key interest rate on hold Wednesday, but warned higher interest rates are coming to help it reel in inflation from its hottest pace in three decades. The central bank lined up to kick off what’s expected to be a series of rate hikes this year starting as early as […]
Coronavirus vaccinations and the US$1.9-trillion fiscal stimulus package are paving the way for the U.S. economy to recover as the world enters the second year of the coronavirus pandemic, in turn driving investor demand for equities and risk assets, according to a recent webinar hosted by Natixis Investment Managers. Esty Dwek, global market strategist at […]
The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan’s struggles when the dot-com bubble burst planted the seeds for the liability-driven investing strategy it’s so well known for today. At the time, the plan had a traditional 60/40 portfolio of equities and bonds, and saw its significant funding surplus quickly turn into a deficit as equities took a […]
Central banks slowing their quantitative easing policies and economic improvements off the back of wide-scale vaccination efforts should both provide bond yields with a modest boost in 2021. But that won’t give defined benefit pension plan sponsors much relief. “You hear the phrase ‘low for long’ and I would agree we’re in an extended period […]
The Canadian Investment Review’s Risk Management Award will go to a pension plan that has successfully implemented a robust approach to its risk management function. This can include implementing de-risking or re-risking or it can showcase day-to-day processes in place for risk management in pension plan investments. Highlights about the three finalists are available below: […]
Despite the low interest rate environment, it still makes sense for defined benefit pension plan sponsors to adopt a liability-driven investment strategy, said Serge Lapierre, global head of LDI at Manulife Investment Management, during a webinar it sponsored on Monday. LDI investing is a risk management framework, he noted. “It’s not an asset class or a […]
Despite several bumps in the decade since the 2008/09 financial crisis, the swift and brutal crash in global equity prices when the coronavirus was declared a pandemic sent pension investors reaching for their playbooks to implement defensive strategies to mitigate the damage. “People have worked very hard at just acting on the set strategies that […]
Despite the low interest rate environment, it still makes sense for defined benefit pension plan sponsors to adopt a liability-driven investment strategy, said Serge Lapierre, global head of LDI at Manulife Investment Management, during a webinar sponsored by the firm on Monday. LDI investing is a risk management framework, he noted. “It’s not an asset […]
In January 2020, the Canadian Institute of Actuaries released final changes to the actuarial standards of practice for calculating commuted values, with the changes scheduled to come into effect on Dec. 1, 2020. The changes will affect the lump-sum amounts paid from many Canadian defined benefit pension plans in situations such as: the termination of employment of […]