Mutual fund manufacturers are always in search of sticky assets. Lately they have been hard to find, as record volatility unleashes substantial reductions. That doesn’t mean new money isn’t coming in. But fear keeps a lot of it on the sidelines. Unless you’re working on autopilot. That’s what employer-sponsored plans do: Group RRSPs, defined contribution […]
York University Pension Fund’s approach to alternatives is all about infrastructure. As Canada’s third-largest university, York University in Toronto has been expanding students’ horizons through higher learning for nearly 50 years. But it’s not just students who are getting the opportunity to grow and learn—the university’s $1.1 billion pension fund is always in learning mode […]
The past few weeks has been eventful, to say the least. We have watched the disappearance of Lehman Brothers and the changing status of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to bank holding companies from investment banks; seen Merrill Lynch, Wachovia, Halifax Bank, and Fortis get bought; and witnessed the nationalization of Bradford & Bingley, Fannie […]
The current financial crisis is not unprecedented and will hopefully result in important lessons being learned, according to a panel of experts. “This has happened before,” said professor of business economics Peter Dungan at Toronto’s Rotman School of Management on Wednesday. “We saw the dot-com crisis, Asian crisis, and savings and loan crisis previously, and […]
Other World Views this week:| MON | | WED | THU | FRI | Expectations of a global economic recession have risen sharply, and risk aversion has reached a new high, according to Merrill Lynch’s Survey of Fund Managers for September. Fear about the prospects of global economies is evident this month, as 61% of […]
Other World Views this week:| MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | Employment-based health insurance coverage for Americans under the age of 65 has been on a roller coaster ride as of late, with the trend headed downhill in recent years but still roughly constant since 1994, according to a study. The […]
The Olympic ceremonies and games in Beijing serve as a colourful reminder of the diverse opportunities available by taking a more global view to investing. Apparently the audience has been instructed to cheer for all contestants equally. If only investing were that egalitarian! Many years ago, on a visit to Hong Kong, I came across […]
Other Brieflies this week:| MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | Four of the largest banks in the United States—Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo—intend to establish covered bond programs as an alternative to finance mortgage loans. “I believe covered bonds have the potential to increase mortgage financing, improve […]
Designing an effective program is not easy. Experience shows that employee engagement in defined contribution (DC) plans is often low and leads to low participation rates in the program, lower savings rates than may be desirable, and failure to actively select/modify an asset mix appropriate for the member’s actual risk tolerance. Each of these outcomes […]
Other Brieflies this week:| MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | Following significant net improvement through 2006 and 2007, there has been little net change but significant volatility in the GAAP funded positions of Canadian pension plans over the first half of 2008, according to a recent analysis conducted by Watson Wyatt. […]