Against a backdrop of uncertainty, the OPSEU Pension Trust is guided by an investment strategy with certainty at its core. In 2015, the plan introduced what it calls a member-driven investing strategy, which is all about efficient risk allocation and earning the returns required to pay pensions at the lowest possible risk. “That’s different from […]
In the U.S., target-date funds in workplace retirement plans have grown from $5 billion in 2000 to $734 billion in 2018, with many benefits for plan members. A new working paper by Olivia Mitchell, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, and Stephen Utkus, principal and director of the Vanguard Center for Investor […]
The British Columbia Investment Management Corp. is buying a stake in U.K.-based investment analytics provider ClearMacro Ltd. The company provides analytics tools designed for asset managers and other professional investors. “BCI has, in recent years, firmly established our in-house investing capabilities across asset classes,” said Mihail Garchev, vice-president of total fund management at the BCI, in a press […]
The investment industry has been talking a lot about our position in the economic cycle and our proximity to a recession. In fact, I wrote about it last year with respect to interest rates and the economy. The current situation remains somewhat tenuous, with ever-present geopolitical tensions, rising populism (and hence protectionism), slowing global economic growth, monetary […]
SEI Investments Canada Co. is appointing Kendra Kaake as director of investment strategy for its institutional group in Canada. With more than 20 years of investment industry experience, Kaake joins SEI from Russell Investments Canada Ltd. where she was director for non-profit outsourced chief investment officer solutions and director of client strategy and research. Read: SEI […]
When pension plans have access to a lot of forecasting information, it’s easy to be tempted into straying from an initial plan. Yet sticking to strategy is key, said Duncan Burrill, managing director and chief executive officer of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. pension fund, speaking at a Canadian Pension and Benefits Institute event in Toronto […]
If most defined contribution pension plan members who invest their own money underperform those who invest through professionally managed options, how can plan sponsors encourage more uptake of default options? “By understanding the drivers associated with acceptance of a default investment, plan sponsors and defined contribution plan consultants might have additional success getting more participants […]
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, will make climate change central to its investment decisions. Founder and chief executive officer Laurence Fink, who oversees the management of about $7 trillion in funds, said in his influential annual letter to CEOs Tuesday that he believes we are “on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance” […]
Canadian pension funds’ median allocations to infrastructure are higher than their global counterparts, with these allocations increasing significantly since 2010. In fact, according to data provided to the Canadian Investment Review by Preqin Ltd., the median allocation to infrastructure for a global public plan was 1.7 per cent in 2010, while a Canadian public plan’s allocation was four […]
The days of monetary policy as the most effective tool for stimulating the economy are over, as central banks around the world are increasingly limited in the measures they can implement, according to AllianceBernstein’s chief global economist. “The ability for central banks to do more is constrained, particularly in . . . Europe and Japan,” where banks have set incredibly […]