The Investment Management Corp. of Ontario is taking on the Provincial Judges’ Pension Plan as its latest client. The pension plan is joining with $420 million in assets under management. With the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat as its plan sponsor, the plan pays out about $44.3 million in annual pension payments to nearly 300 […]
With environmental, social and governance issues becoming more prominent among investors, it’s important to consider what sustainability means for DC plans. Plan sponsors are facing somewhat conflicting objectives, said Christine Girvan, senior managing director and head of Canadian distribution at MFS Investment Management, during a session at Benefits Canada‘s 2020 DC Plan Summit in Montreal […]
In normal circumstances, pension plan members don’t respond well to being inundated with information about their plans. Typically, a deluge of content can turn off plan members, says Jillian Kennedy, leader of defined contribution and financial wellness at Mercer Canada. But today’s circumstances are far from ordinary. “Right now, you can’t over communicate.” In 2008, the financial […]
Global institutional investors believe asset managers need to up their technology game if they’re going to win the client-satisfaction war, according to a new report by Greenwich Associates. The report, which featured data from interviews with more than 150 senior decision-makers at large institutional investors in North America and Europe, found more than half believe their asset […]
Franklin Resources Inc., operating as Franklin Templeton, is acquiring investment management company Legg Mason Inc. The all-cash deal priced Legg Mason’s common shares at US$50. As part of the transaction, Franklin Templeton will assume the manager’s outstanding debt of about US$2 billion. Legg Mason and its multiple affiliates collectively manage about $806 billion, including Brandywine Global, Clarion Partners, […]
Sun Life Financial is set to take an 80 per cent stake in investment manager InfraRed Capital Partners. Headquartered in London, England, InfraRed manages global infrastructure and real estate investments. The transaction includes a closing payment of about $515 million, with InfraRed’s owners maintaining an option to sell their remaining positions in the company to […]
More investors responsible for allocating capital to investment management firms (nine per cent) would still consider investing, or invest, with a money manager discovered to have workplace sexual harassment issues compared to last year (four per cent), according to a survey by the Investment Management Due Diligence Association. And, 71 per cent of investors don’t […]
When central banks took on the challenge of saving a drowning global economy during the 2008 financial crisis, pension plans appeared to have plenty to be thankful for. However, as the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank embark on their latest round of monetary stimulus, these policy changes mean pension plans are now […]
Twelve of the 25 top global asset owners were pension funds as of year-end 2018, according a new report by Willis Towers Watson’s Thinking Ahead Institute. The report found, among the top 100 asset owners, pension funds held 59.1 per cent of the fund assets, down 1.7 per cent from 2017, primarily due to assets […]
Active investors should combine their own analytical work with the use of machine learning to get a leg up on their passive peers, according to a new paper. Fiona Frick, Unigestion’s chief executive officer, argued that, in an environment where institutional investors are using the same strategies and no one is left with an edge, active managers should use “collaborative […]