After a year of steady performance, fixed income markets could kick off 2026 with concerns from a macroeconomic standpoint, says Steve Locke, chief investment officer of fixed income and multi-asset strategies at Mackenzie Investments. “We’re seeing some fiscal and GDP tailwinds that are going to start to form fairly early in the new year. In […]
Economic headwinds, cost pressures and shifting employee expectations are forcing organizations to rethink performance compensation. Traditional pay-for-performance models, built for more predictable business cycles, are showing signs of strain. Many leaders are now asking a difficult but necessary question: are salary increases and incentive awards still tied to performance, or have they evolved into entitlements? […]
As institutional investors navigate complex markets and demanding governance requirements, Grace Uniacke, director of alternatives solutions at Russell Investments, suggests they move their portfolios from disconnected compartments towards integrated, connected systems. “This can be done in incremental tweaks, but more so as a structural upgrade to how we design, construct and manage institutional portfolios,” she said during […]
Amid geopolitical conflict and market volatility, the volume of risk transfers among Canadian defined benefit pension plan sponsors is down roughly 60 per cent in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period last year, says Brent Simmons, senior vice-president and head of DB solutions at Sun Life Financial Inc. “The pullback that […]
Quebec’s pending implementation of variable payment life annuities would benefit more from a principles-based approach rather than a prescriptive framework, said the Canadian Institute of Actuaries. In an open letter to the provincial government, the CIA said such an approach would allow for a more flexible and effective rollout and would encourage innovation while continuing […]
Peter Shaker’s job requires him to stay connected with the financial world, its economic movement and any developing investment trends — mainly, what’s making people nervous these days. “A lot of it is keeping up to date with what’s going on in the world, economic trends, investment trends, what’s scaring people, what’s keeping people somewhat […]
The Canadian pension risk transfer market reached record-breaking demand in 2024 with $11 billion in deals at the end of the year, eclipsing the $7.8 billion combined total of annuities transactions in 2023 and 2022. Indeed, the fourth quarter of 2024 alone saw $5.2 billion of overall transactions, split between $1.5 billion in buy-ins and […]
Many factors have contributed to a proliferation of debt at the sovereign level, including the coronavirus pandemic and central bankers subsequent fight against inflation. “A lot of themes we’re talking about have led to some scarcity, supply chain fragility leading to that inflationary impulse in tandem with continued fiscal largess,” said Renato Latini, portfolio manager […]
The move towards a core-plus mindset, first-time major allocations to stand-alone credit strategies and a focus on less liquid assets are the top trends in credit among institutional investors, according to Andrzej Skiba, managing director and head of U.S. fixed income on the BlueBay fixed income team at RBC Global Asset Management (U.S.) Inc., speaking during […]
The funded position of a typical Canadian defined benefit pension plan decreased both on a solvency and accounting basis in March, according to Telus Health’s latest pension index. It found the average funded position decreased slightly on a solvency basis from 100 per cent to 97.7 per cent at the end of the month. On […]