Canada’s largest pension funds are joining an initiative that aims to boost pension investments between Canada and Australia. The Canadian-Australian Pension Funds Investment Initiative, announced Wednesday during Prime Minister Mark Carney’s visit to Australia, will create a framework for pension funds in the two countries to discuss policy barriers and associated solutions to improve the […]
A new war breaking out in Iran is highlighting the effects of a new era of geopolitics as a recurring macro driver for institutional investors, said Monica Defend, head of the Amundi Investment Institute, in an emailed statement to Benefits Canada. “We are moving further into a ‘controlled disorder’ environment, where shocks generate rotation and […]
The Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System is parting ways with two infrastructure leads in the wake of struggling investments in the European market, according to a report from the Financial Times. Alastair Hall (pictured right), the OMERS’ senior managing director for Europe, and Chris Hogg (pictured left), a director based in the London office, both […]
Don Smith, the recently suspended chair of the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology pension plan’s board of trustees, has been removed from his position following allegations of an improper executive compensation approval, according to a report by the Toronto Star. He was removed Thursday by the members of the plan’s sponsors’ committee amid a […]
Environmental conservation can play a significant role in the evaluation of an investment asset and its future progress, according to a new study co-authored by Canada-based researchers. “Our results show that to a certain degree, [biodiversity protection] will impact the production, the size and the production of the establishment that is near a protected area,” […]
The Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association wants to see the removal of regulatory barriers that are holding back Canadian insurance business in 2026, says its president and chief executive officer Stephen Frank. Following a turbulent year in Canada-U.S. trade and political relations, Frank says it’s more important to ensure there’s a business environment that […]
The Bank of Canada is facing an increasingly uncertain 2026 despite experts agreeing on its current policy path. Etienne Bordeleau-Labrecque, vice-president and portfolio manager at Ninepoint Partners, says the bank is in a good position at the start of the year. “They’ve cut to the low end of what they consider the neutral rate, and […]
The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan is appealing a Dutch tax court ruling against the investment organization. Th court backed the investigation of a tax inspector, arguing that in 445 transactions between 2013 and 2018, the investment organization wasn’t the beneficial owner of local shares that paid investor dividends and, therefore, couldn’t reclaim tax withheld […]
Fading developed markets bilateral aid and U.S. tariff policy is pushing emerging markets debt as an attractive alternative for growing countries, according to Yvette Babb, portfolio manager at William Blair. “Debt levels in emerging markets are, in fact, lower than their advanced country counterparts. . . . Default rates are low, but also recovery rates, […]
A quantitative investment process could begin competing with the best fixed income and fundamental traditional credit asset managers in the near future, according to Bernd Wuebben, director of systematic investing and quantitative research at AllianceBernstein. “In the context of quant processes, systematic processes, there’s nothing passive about this,” he said during a session at the […]