With only a few weeks left in a year impacted by trade wars, equity concentration risk and the increased appeal of artificial intelligence opportunities, defined benefit plan sponsors, money managers and other investment professionals gathered at the Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria, B.C. for the Canadian Investment Review’s 2025 Investment Innovation Conference. From Nov. 19-21, […]
The outlier performance of investments in gold can be traced to risk-off activity from central banks around the world, according to Karlan Patel, vice-president and exchange-traded fund investment strategist at State Street Investment Management. “Specifically, it’s Turkey, India, China [and] Poland,” he said during a session at the Canadian Investment Review’s 2025 Investment Innovation Conference. […]
By separating a traditional active equity portfolio into two groups, institutional investors can gain resilience and add value at a time when active global equity strategies have struggled to outperform, said David Alloune, vice-president of asset allocation at Trans-Canada Capital Inc. “A passive investing approach on the largest portion of institutional portfolios is probably not […]
Danish pension fund AkademikerPension is divesting nearly US$100 million in U.S. treasuries, citing weak U.S. government finances. In a press release, Anders Schelde, the organization’s investment director, clarified the decision wasn’t made in response to recent U.S. threats to annex Greenland, a Danish territory. “It is not directly related to the ongoing division between the […]
After an eventful 2025, there are several developments and trends affecting Canadian defined benefit pension plan sponsors in 2026. Focus on investment strategy Major equity markets performed well in 2025, which was a key driver for another year of improved funded positions for many DB pension plans. Although most pension plans are well funded today, […]
State-owned institutional investors reached a combined US$60 trillion in assets and foreign reserves in December 2025, according to a new report by Global SWF. The total includes assets managed by sovereign wealth funds, public pension funds and central banks, all of which expanded their balance sheets during the year. Sovereign wealth funds surpassed $15 trillion […]
The median solvency ratio among Canadian defined benefit pension plans was 132 per cent as of Dec. 31, 2025, an increase of seven per cent during the year, including three per cent in the final quarter, according to a new report by Mercer Canada. The report, which analyzed more than 470 plan sponsors, found Canadian […]
The funded status of a typical Canadian defined benefit pension plan increased on a solvency basis but decreased on an accounting basis during the month of November, according to a new report by Telus Health. The monthly pension index revealed the typical DB plan grew slightly from 107.3 per cent in October to 107.4 per […]
Mark Wiseman, former president and chief executive officer of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, will become the next Ambassador of Canada to the U.S., effective Feb. 15, 2026. Wiseman, who succeeds Kirsten Hillman in the role, has a background in law, business and finance. In addition to his role at the CPPIB, Wiseman was […]
Active management in the real estate market is delivering higher absolute returns and stronger risk-adjusted performance, according to a new report from Hazelview Investments. Active global REITs outperformed passive strategies across a 15-year time span by 151 basis points per year, the report said. An initial $10,000 investment grew 24 per cent in over the […]