While the Pension Investment Association of Canada is generally supportive of British Columbia’s proposed solvency funding framework, when it comes to requirements around funding the provision for adverse deviations, the organization is suggesting B.C. takes a page from Ontario and Quebec. With many governments across Canada looking to make defined benefit plans more sustainable, the […]
The New Brunswick Public Service Pension Plan saw a return of 1.75 per cent in 2018, yielding $132.3 million in additional net investment income, according to its annual report. The increase was led by private equity, which returned 26.91 per cent during the year. Other alternative investments, such as infrastructure and real estate, were also […]
While target-date funds are intended to be used as a singular option in capital accumulation plans, many defined contribution plan members use them in conjunction with other investments, according to research by Morningstar Inc. The report noted more than 10 million DC participants are potentially in TDFs and other plan investments. “While combining target-date funds with […]
When considering environmental, social and governance issues, asset managers are less convinced that social factors drive returns, according to a survey by Netherlands-based NN Investment Partners. Among the European asset managers surveyed, just 15 per cent said social factors are something they can harness to generate returns. This compares to 40 per cent that said the same […]
At the risk of cementing my reputation as an unapologetic literary nerd (I opened my last editorial with a George Bernard Shaw quote), I’ve always drawn inspiration from Virginia Woolf’s seminal work, A Room of One’s Own. If you haven’t read the essay, it’s basically an argument for creating both a literal and figurative space […]
Technically, Janice Fukakusa is retired. However, after more than 30 years at the Royal Bank of Canada, where she rose to the rank of both chief financial officer and chief administration officer, she doesn’t have much spare time on her hands. She’s the chancellor of Ryerson University and sits on the boards of Cineplex Inc. […]
The 2008 financial crisis is an event that defined benefit plan sponsors won’t soon forget. Roller-coaster markets exposed gaps in their investment strategies, while de-risking appeared on pension committee agendas as they assessed the damage and focused on the road to fully funded statuses. Back in 2008, few tools were available to de-risk pension plans. […]
In 2017, a group of Canada’s largest institutional investors and asset managers, known as the 30% Club, called for a boost in the representation of women on boards and in executive management at S&P/TSX composite index companies to 30 per cent by 2022. While members say significant progress has been made in the past two […]
Since Telus Communication Inc.’s journey from defined benefit pension plans to defined contribution began in 1996, it’s come a long way, but it’s far from over. During a session at the Association of Canadian Pension Management’s annual conference on Wednesday, Carol Craig, Telus’s director of benefits and pensions, and Dave Lawson, vice-president of investment management, noted the DC […]
Canadian asset and wealth managers are facing increased expectations from clients, according to a poll by RBC Investor and Treasury Services. Those surveyed identified the rise in client expectations as the top challenge for the year, followed by increased regulation, which held the top spot in 2018. As well, about a quarter (23 per cent) […]