The University Pension Plan Ontario is creating a joint venture with Schroders Capital to invest in high-quality logistics and industrial real estate across northwestern Europe. The new partnership will have a shared focus on long-term value creation and embedding material environmental, social and governance considerations into asset management, according to a press release. “The partnership […]
The average Canadian defined benefit pension plan returned 0.6 per cent during the fourth quarter of 2025, down from 4.4 per cent in the previous quarter, according to a new report by the Royal Bank of Canada Investor Services. It found the average DB plan returned 7.9 per cent for the full year, down from […]
Nearly all (97 per cent) of fees paid by institutional investors go to active managers, virtually unchanged from 2023 (98 per cent), according to a new report by Callan. The report analyzed mandates run by more than 300 investment firms for nearly 180 institutional investors, representing US$784 billion in assets under management and $1.9 billion […]
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 […]