Three of Canada’s largest pension funds are investing in a new fund focused on the global transition to a net-zero economy. The Brookfield Global Transition Fund, founded by Brookfield Asset Management Inc., closed its funding after raising US$7 billion ($8.8 billion) with the help of the Investment Management Corp. of Ontario, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan […]
Whether institutional investors welcome it — or even realize it — cryptocurrency is having an impact on their portfolios. The immense size of the crypto ecosystem — about US$ 1 trillion — and its disruptive effects are being felt across capital markets. In its various forms, it’s changing the way businesses operate. Financial analysts see […]
It isn’t an easy time to be a fixed income investor. After a volatile year that included a severe liquidity squeeze in the spring of 2020, Sandra Lau, executive vice-president of fixed income at the Alberta Investment Management Corp., says many different measures now suggest the bull market for fixed income is officially over and […]
As institutional investors seek portfolio diversification and the insurance industry seeks additional capacity amid global growth, investment strategies incorporating insurance-linked securities are providing a solution for both parties. Insurance-linked securities allow insurers to transfer some of their risk to investors. For example, in the case of catastrophe bonds, the issuer pays a coupon to an […]
The value of assets held by Canadian trusteed pension funds increased to $2.2 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to new data from Statistics Canada. This was an increase of 4.7 per cent from the previous quarter, when the value of assets hit $2.12 trillion, and represents a 6.6 per cent year increase from […]
Representatives from eight of Canada’s largest pension funds — known as the Maple Eight — participated in the first meeting of the Sustainable Finance Action Council last week. On June 11, representatives of the Alberta Investment Management Corp., the British Columbia Investment Management Corp., the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the Canada Pension […]
As Exxon Mobil Corp. shareholders continue their bid to force the oil giant to deal more aggressively with climate change, several large U.S. institutional investors are backing a slate of alternative directors. The company announced Wednesday that three candidates nominated by a dissident group of shareholders, called Engine No. 1, had been elected to its board […]
As the era of cap rate compression draws to a close, how can institutional investors maintain the outsized returns they’ve enjoyed for over a decade? Over the past 15 years, the growing popularity of real estate in institutional investment portfolios has increased against the backdrop of a sustained decline in yields, called cap rate compression. […]
Jennifer Coulson has been engaged in responsible investing and environmental, social and governance factors for two decades and remembers a time when it was difficult to get access to chief executive officers to discuss her concerns. Not anymore. Today, senior leaders have a much better understanding of the importance of ESG factors and actively seek […]
As interest rates return to pre-pandemic levels, fixed income is returning to its role as an equities hedge, according to a webinar on Wednesday hosted by AllianceBernstein Canada Inc. “As we see rates rise back to where they were at the end of 2019, there’s gas in the tank for fixed income to play that […]