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2021 IIC coverage: Maximizing the certainty of an outcome — it isn’t just death and taxes

With many defined benefit pension plan solvency ratios at all-time highs, plan sponsors have an excellent opportunity to rethink their approach to investing, according to Shivin Kwatra, head of liability-driven investing portfolio management at Insight Investments. “It is important to highlight two approaches to investing: one [is] traditional — a mean variance framework of maximizing […]

  • December 21, 2021 December 17, 2021
  • 07:57

2021 IIC coverage: Turning theory into action in impact investing

Investing is undergoing a paradigm shift, which will see investors do well by doing good, according to John Levy, director of impact at Franklin Templeton Investments. “Traditional investing is agnostic about its role on the planet, local communities and society. At some point, something like what we now call sustainable investing came along,” he said during […]

  • December 21, 2021 December 17, 2021
  • 07:55

2021 IIC coverage: Is inflation here to stay?

“Inflation is here and it has a meaningful impact on portfolios and financial assets,” said Ilan Kolet, an institutional portfolio manager at Fidelity Investments Inc., during a session at the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2021 Investment Innovation Conference. “I don’t think this will be a shock to anyone in the room or online.” Highlighting the most […]

  • December 21, 2021 December 17, 2021
  • 07:53

2021 IIC coverage: Saving Canada from demographic doom

Pension plan sponsors pay too much attention to predictions and not enough to demographic data, according to Darrell Bricker, chief executive officer of Ipsos Public Affairs and a senior fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Policy. “Demographics . . . is like a glacier,” he said during a session at the Canadian Investment […]

  • December 21, 2021 December 17, 2021
  • 07:51

2021 IIC coverage: Are pension plan sponsors rethinking real estate investments in work-from-home era?

The coronavirus pandemic will leave an indelible mark on the way businesses operate, said Gary Timlick, chair of the investment committee at the Winnipeg Civic Employees’ Benefits Program, during a panel session on the long-term impact of the pandemic on commercial real estate at the Canadian Investment Review’s 2021 Investment Innovation Conference. “There will be opportunities […]

  • December 21, 2021 December 17, 2021
  • 07:49

How the OPTrust is taking a sustainable approach to investment

Before Alison Loat joined the OPSEU Pension Trust as its first managing director of sustainable investing and innovation in 2019, her experience with sustainability investing had only been peripheral. “Although I did not come from the responsible investing world, I could see the tides were starting to turn. It was clear that a lot more […]

  • December 17, 2021 December 16, 2021
  • 08:54

Canadian DB plan solvency, balance sheets dipped in November: report

The average Canadian defined benefit pension plan saw its funding position deteriorate slightly on both a solvency and accounting basis in November, according to a new report by LifeWorks Inc. According to the report, the index covering the estimated average DB plan saw its solvency ratio dip, from 111.5 per cent to 110.8 per cent. […]

  • December 9, 2021 December 8, 2021
  • 09:00

Copenhagen students win global prize for designing collective DC pension plan

Four undergraduates from the Copenhagen Business School have claimed the top prize at the 2021 McGill International Portfolio Challenge by designing a collective defined contribution plan aimed at balancing the needs of older and younger plan members. Since 2017, the MPIC has challenged university students around the world to propose solutions to societal issues. This […]

  • December 2, 2021 December 2, 2021
  • 09:00

Tracking indirect GHG emissions vital for institutional investors, says expert

Institutional investors seeking to reduce their portfolios’ carbon footprint should pay more attention to scope 3 emissions, says Priti Shokeen, head of environmental, social and governance research and engagement at TD Asset Management Inc. “Typically, when investors engage issuers on climate change, the focus tends to be on industries traditionally understood as high emitting, for […]

  • November 26, 2021 December 3, 2021
  • 16:30

CBC Pension Plan stays the course with liability-driven investment model

The best ship captains don’t put too much faith in weather forecasts — or those who do tend to see their vessels flounder. Perhaps that’s why the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. has a skipper, Duncan Burrill, at the helm of its pension plan. Even when he’s away from his much-loved sailboat on the banks of the […]

  • November 19, 2021 November 19, 2021
  • 08:52