Defined benefit pension plans and defined contribution pension plans are uncertain about how to incorporate environmental, social and governance issues into their investment processes in a way that’s consistent with fiduciary duties, according to a new white paper from the Association of Canadian Pension Management. “Sustainable investing, including ESG, is an area where some investment […]
Robust research on emerging trends can reveal much about future market opportunities, said Joe Faraday, director, international equities at Baillie Gifford, during his session. “I want for us all to be thinking about the growth waves – that’s the growth topic that really interests and excites us… Ultimately, it’s all about trying to ride growth […]
Regulations on emerging decentralized finance technology have proven difficult to enforce, in part because, in the world of self-fulfilling digital contracts, it isn’t always clear which individuals should be held to account. During a session at the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2022 Global Investment Conference in April, Ryan Clements, assistant professor and chair in business law […]
A high-inflation environment is pushing Canadian pension plan sponsors toward alternative sources of fixed income, according to a white paper released by Coalition Greenwich. The white paper, which was commissioned by Toronto-based AGF Investments, is based on telephone interviews with 31 Canadian corporate and public sector pension plan sponsors and endowment fund managers. It found […]
Only one per cent of institutional investors described their organizations as non-adopters of environmental, social and governance investing criteria, according to a survey from Capital Group. The survey, which polled 1,100 institutional investors working around the world, found two-thirds of institutional investors that hadn’t adopted ESG strategies a year ago have now done so. Another 10 per […]
The Pension Fund Coalition is publishing a set of generic contracts aimed to help plan sponsors in establishing minimum environmental, social and governance criteria with asset managers. The model contracts are designed to be flexible across a range of scenarios, approaches and asset classes, according to a press release, which noted although the coalition is […]
Canada’s pension plans are well positioned to succeed in a high inflation environment though stagflation remains a significant threat, according to a new report from Fitch Ratings. “The maturing nature of participant bases increases pension funds’ reliance on investment returns, as contributions and income from active members may be outpaced by benefits paid to a […]
While official diversity, equity and inclusion policies have been widely adopted by U.S. institutional asset management organizations, these policies have made little difference to the makeup of executive ranks, according to a survey by Meketa Investment Group. The survey, which was based on responses provided by 420 U.S. institutional asset managers, found by the end of […]
Decentralized finance technology facilitated more illicit cryptocurrency transactions in the first quarter of 2022 than in any other period, according to a report from Chainalysis Inc. “DeFi protocols have accounted for an ever-growing share of all funds stolen from cryptocurrency platforms since the beginning of 2020 and lost the vast majority of stolen funds in […]
Canada’s institutional investors saw assets decline by 4.61 per cent in the first quarter of 2022, according to the BNY Mellon Canadian master trust universe. With respect to non-traditional asset classes, real estate delivered the highest performance, with a quarterly median return of 4.65 per cent. Among traditional asset classes, Canadian equities performed best. During the […]