Nearly two years after the declaration of the global coronavirus pandemic and its subsequent impact on the worldwide economy, institutional investors are looking to the future with cautious optimism. Amid a recovering economy and rising inflation, pension plan sponsors are taking a long-term investment view and staying the course in the year ahead, while incorporating […]
Despite the low-yield environment, fixed income continues to play an important role for institutional investors looking to make their portfolios work harder in a risk-controlled fashion, said Jeffrey Moore, a portfolio manager at Fidelity Investments Inc., during a session at the Canadian Investment Review’s 2021 Global Investment Conference. “For the bond market to hurt, there needs […]
When the coronavirus pandemic shook up the investment landscape last spring, Canadian pension funds were also jostled by the shock wave, with the Alberta Investment Management Corp. and the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System among the hardest hit. And while the pandemic was an unprecedented event, such losses have raised the issue of whether Canadian pension […]
Following an unprecedented 2020, Canada’s plan sponsors and pension plans are incorporating the lessons of the last year as they prepare for a new decade, according to a recent webinar hosted by Mercer Canada. The coming years will be marked by developments including increased geopolitical tensions and the lingering economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic, […]
Last year offered up one of most tempestuous investment environments in recent memory, and this year looks to be equally dynamic. It will be increasingly important for pension investment committees to be proactive and flexible in the management and oversight of their portfolios. Those that can quickly assess and respond to fundamental economic shifts will […]
While institutional investors are facing an “unquestionably brighter” economic outlook in 2021, challenges such as fluctuations in the U.S. and Canadian dollars still lie ahead, says Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at Cambridge Global Payments. In terms of the global growth landscape, he says crowded trades have been fuelled across several asset classes based on an […]
The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan’s struggles when the dot-com bubble burst planted the seeds for the liability-driven investing strategy it’s so well known for today. At the time, the plan had a traditional 60/40 portfolio of equities and bonds, and saw its significant funding surplus quickly turn into a deficit as equities took a […]
What a difference a year makes. At this time in 2019, initial reports of a novel virus to be called COVID-19 were just beginning to come out of China, and the pandemic was still months from becoming front-page news around the world. Investors were busy instead planning for another regular year in 2020, setting return […]
The prospect of a Joe Biden presidency with a Republican-held senate is an ideal outcome for markets, said Charles Myers, founder and chairman of Signum Global Advisors, during the Canadian Investment Review’s Investment Innovation Conference in November. Speaking the morning after the election, Myers said Republicans’ expected continued control of the senate would have “very […]
Despite the low interest rate environment, it still makes sense for defined benefit pension plan sponsors to adopt a liability-driven investment strategy, said Serge Lapierre, global head of LDI at Manulife Investment Management, during a webinar it sponsored on Monday. LDI investing is a risk management framework, he noted. “It’s not an asset class or a […]