Other Brieflies this week:| MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | Canada’s private businesses are optimistic about the country’s economic outlook but less so about a recovery in 2010, according to a poll. A Grant Thornton International survey of 300 senior executives of small and mid-size businesses across the country finds that […]
The pension debate is front and centre in Ottawa
Other Brieflies this week:| MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | The University of Toronto pension and endowment fund is looking to put an end to aggressive investing strategies and reorganize its management structure after posting a loss of $1.5 billion—or 30%—on its assets during 2008. University president David Naylor is heeding […]
Other Brieflies this week:| MON | TUE | WED | THU | FRI | Current market conditions and recent positive hedge fund returns are providing attractive opportunities for allocations in alternative strategies, according to Mercer. However, following good practice when selecting managers remains crucial, as some have emerged from the financial crisis in better shape […]
Last year started with great uncertainty for pension plans, following a disastrous 2008, which was made worse by a mediocre 2007. The S&P TSX Composite Index showed little promise early on in 2008, then the bottom completely fell out of the market in the last four months, with the year ending in a net loss […]
Pension planning these days often involves managing the past as well as the future. Pension plans are inherently long-term creations, and the promises of our predecessors, written in plan texts, remain in effect for this generation to manage—or find a way to dismantle. If we step back, we can view the old and new pension […]
If data from a recent DBRS study are correct, the uproar over private sector defined benefit (DB) plans in the wake of plunging equity markets is a tempest in a teapot. In fact, solvency levels are better now than they were in 2002. The DBRS review of 70 DB plans at Canada’s largest private sector […]
Pension plans have been assuming too much risk—a major factor in the funding crisis that many plans are experiencing today, said Malcolm Hamilton, a pension consultant with Mercer, at a recent CFA event in Toronto. The events of the past 12 to 14 months have caused many pension plans to become significantly underfunded. Solvency funded […]
This credit cycle is much like any other—a protracted period of low credit spreads lulling investors into a false sense of security, a sharp spike in credit spreads as investors made a mad dash for the exit doors, followed with a marked increase in default rates. What is a little different this time is the […]
The February blahs take on a deeper dimension as companies tighten their belts in a tough economy. Most of us weren’t sorry to see the end of 2008—a year that The Wall Street Journal has referred to as “one of the most brutal years ever.” But 2009 is off to a rocky start and the […]