Blogs – Benefits Canada.com

Is it time for an asset-strategy check-up?

mschmit — Thu, 27 Aug 2020 04:14:00 +0000

At the time of my last column in May, many pension plan sponsors were catching their breath after watching funding levels take a roller coaster ride. After a steep drop earlier in the year, funding levels were slowly recovering. However, market uncertainty remained and it wasn’t clear what was coming next. Thankfully the last few […]

The post Is it time for an asset-strategy check-up? appeared first on Benefits Canada.com.

The green shoots of Canada’s green bond market

mschmit — Wed, 19 Aug 2020 05:08:27 +0000

Canada’s green bond market has been growing, but investors would benefit from digging a little deeper to ensure what they’re buying is in fact green and not merely clever greenwashing. Green bonds are still in their infancy. The world’s first green bond was introduced in 2007 and the first Canadian one was issued in 2012. […]

The post The green shoots of Canada’s green bond market appeared first on Benefits Canada.com.

Looking beyond the U.S. for quality fundamentals at the right price

mschmit — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 03:52:04 +0000

US equities have dominated their global peers over the past decade. As of 30 June, the S&P 500 had returned 14.5 per cent per annum since hitting bottom during the global financial crisis in March 2009 compared to only 7.6 per cent for the MSCI All-Country World ex-USA Index. The outperformance of US shares isn’t […]

The post Looking beyond the U.S. for quality fundamentals at the right price appeared first on Benefits Canada.com.

Higher tax rates expected in Biden administration

mschmit — Thu, 23 Jul 2020 04:00:03 +0000

Former vice-president Joseph Biden will inherit an economy beleaguered by the battle against the coronavirus if he wins the election in November. The recession will influence his legislative priorities in both the short and long term; however, Biden has indicated that he would raise an array of corporate and personal taxes to finance domestic programs, […]

The post Higher tax rates expected in Biden administration appeared first on Benefits Canada.com.

A fundamental problem with target-date funds

mschmit — Wed, 15 Jul 2020 04:45:55 +0000

Target-date funds lead to defined contribution plan members taking more risk and becoming more diversified than they would be if left to their own devices. But despite these benefits, TDFs fail to provide what members really want and need — a reliable income replacement for life managed by somebody else. My colleague Ioulia Tretiakova and […]

The post A fundamental problem with target-date funds appeared first on Benefits Canada.com.

Coronavirus: a true test of partnership for private equity firms

mschmit — Mon, 29 Jun 2020 03:37:23 +0000

As the novel coronavirus pandemic upended the way businesses operate, investors around the world have been able follow daily market gyrations in real time to see how public companies are being impacted and what the crisis is doing to valuations. What has been perhaps less visible is how private equity firms have responded to the […]

The post Coronavirus: a true test of partnership for private equity firms appeared first on Benefits Canada.com.

The slow burn of climate change in heat of pandemic

mschmit — Wed, 24 Jun 2020 03:41:10 +0000

Meeting a deadline in the midst of a pandemic seems like a good test of corporate resiliency and, according to a recent survey of Canadian Principles for Responsible Investment signatories that I conducted on behalf of my consulting firm Real Alts, the majority of respondents likely passed. The survey found that almost 80 per cent […]

The post The slow burn of climate change in heat of pandemic appeared first on Benefits Canada.com.

Is the time right for pension funds to consider litigation finance?

mschmit — Fri, 19 Jun 2020 05:01:18 +0000

In the early days of litigation finance, most fund managers sold a concept and their own capabilities, but not much else. And risky strategies attracted risky investors. For instance, litigation finance attracted high net-worth individual and family office capital from those who are very comfortable assuming risks. It also attracted sophisticated hedge funds who get […]

The post Is the time right for pension funds to consider litigation finance? appeared first on Benefits Canada.com.

Is it time to revisit insurance-linked securities?

mschmit — Tue, 02 Jun 2020 03:33:23 +0000

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus has triggered major corrections in the equity, commodity and debt markets as participants try to gauge the full extent of its impact. It is times like these when the advantages of insurance-linked securities become apparent again. Insurance-linked securities are financial instruments whose performance is driven by the occurrence of […]

The post Is it time to revisit insurance-linked securities? appeared first on Benefits Canada.com.

Commercial litigation finance demand fuelled by coronavirus

mschmit — Thu, 28 May 2020 03:16:39 +0000

In legal circles, it has always been thought that crises breed litigation. And while that appears to be the case in the current crisis, it may not have been the case in the global financial crisis of 2008/9, as pointed out in a recent article by Eric Blinderman, the chief executive officer for the U.S. […]

The post Commercial litigation finance demand fuelled by coronavirus appeared first on Benefits Canada.com.