The new $205 million Ontario Venture Capital Fund is open for business.
Announced last November, the fund is a limited partnership between institutional investors (OMERS Capital Partners, RBC Capital Partners, Manulife Financial, Business Development Bank of Canada and TD Bank Financial Group) and the Ontario government.
It will invest primarily in Ontario-focused venture capital and growth funds. “This fund is precisely what is needed to support companies with great potential but limited start-up resources,” says Michael Nobrega, OMERS president and CEO. “It is in the best interests of the pension fund and for our long-term investment goals to see them thrive.”
The provincial government is investing $90 million into the fund, with the balance coming from institutional investors. The partners have unanimously selected TD Capital Private Equity Investor to manage the fund.
For background information on this story, click here to read Ontario, Institutional Investors Create VC Fund.
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Economy Stronger Than it Looks: Report
Weakening conditions in sectors like manufacturing are masking the true state of the Canadian economy, according to a report from CIBC World Markets.
A range of data—from rising incomes, export revenues and employment, to the possibility of better-than-expected provincial revenues—suggest that Canada’s economy is more than just a story about uneven and uncertain economic growth, says Avery Shenfeld, the brokerage’s managing director and senior economist, in his latest Provincial Forecast.
“One can hardly call Q1 the first quarter of recession, with real personal disposable incomes up 7.3% annualized and employment up 2% annualized from the prior quarter,” he says.
To read the report on the CIBC World Markets website, click here.
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Health of U.S. DB Plans Improves
The health of pension plans sponsored by companies in the S&P 500 improved for the second straight year in 2007, says Mercer.
The funded status of plans improved due to net asset returns generally exceeding expected 2007 targets, along with a 30 to 50 basis point increase in the discount rates used to value the actuarial pension liabilities. This combination helped to improve the median funded status to 94% at fiscal year-end 207, up from 89% at the end of 2006.
“As we move forward in 2008, the capital markets and the economic environment remain volatile,” says Richard McEvoy, a principal in Mercer’s financial strategy group. “With equities generally falling in value and discount rates rising, projected year-end pension funded status is difficult to predict at this point.”
Also in 2007, aggregate pension plan assets of US$1.56 trillion exceeded pension liabilities of $1.5 trillion; it was the first time assets exceeded liabilities since year-end 2001.
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Pension Plans’ Value Increases, But at Slower Pace
The market value of retirement savings in employer-sponsored pension funds increased at its slowest pace in half a decade last year, according to Statistics Canada.
Assets in these pension funds finished 2007 with a market value of $966 billion, up 4.8% over the previous year. It was the smallest increase in value since the devaluations of assets in 2001 and 2002.
Between 2003 and 2006, fund asset increases ranged from 10.8% to 15.3%—more than double the 4.8% gain posted last year.
Pension fund assets held in stocks and equity funds accounted for 37.2% of total assets, down from 39.1% in the third quarter. The share of assets held in bonds and bond funds increased to 33.8% from 32% and real estate assets increased to 7.1% from 6.6%. Short-term assets accounted for 3.5%, mortgages 1.5%, and the remaining assets, which include pooled foreign funds, accounted for 16.9%.
Domestic holdings rose slightly to 69.9% of total fund assets in 2007, while the share in foreign holdings edged down from 30.9% from 30.1%. However, the share of foreign holdings has increased 9.3 percentage points since 2000 and 4.5 points since 2005.
Of the 5.7 million Canadian workers belonging to employer pension plans, about 4.6 million were members of trusteed plans in 2007. The remaining approximate one million workers with employer pension plans were covered principally by insurance company contracts.
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LOMA Canada Awards Assumption Life, AEGON and Desjardins
LOMA Canada has presented Assumption Life, AEGON Canada and Desjardins Financial Security with the 2008 National Corporate Awards for Best Practices in Learning and Development.
Assumption Life won the award in the small company category for its new orientation and training program. All new employees at all job levels start a 15-week training program their first day on the job, ensuring they are familiar with the company, the industry, their department and their role in the company.
AEGON Canada won the award in the large company category for its competency coach program. The online ‘coach’ guides employees through an interactive program which allows all employees how to practice and demonstrate the company’s nine personal leadership competencies.
And a second, equally effective program was awarded in the large company category to Desjardins Financial Security. Its e-learning course on the automation of address changes was developed to teach financial centres personnel how to make accurate changes consistent with Canada Post’s standards, helping to ensure client information is accurate as possible.
The awards were presented at LOMA Canada’s annual conference in Toronto on Thursday.