It was June 1990. The occasion was the annual ACPM conference, and we were in a big room at the Château Laurier in Ottawa.
Coverage of the Benefits Canada Benefits and Pensions Summit.
In a world where markets turn on a dime, the underlying economic fundamentals are often shoved to the side. “Diamonds are forever,” noted Avery Shenfeld, senior economist with CIBC World Markets, in an economist panel at the Benefits Canada Benefits & Pension Summit. “But when it comes to global economies, nothing else is really forever.”
As risk aversion continues to haunt equity markets, corporate credit risk looks reasonably good. Despite deleveraging and a prolonged economic decline that threatens to take down some companies, investing in corporate bonds might be a worthwhile alternative to equities.
One step forward, two steps back. That phrase seems to sum up 2011 for Canada’s Top 40 money managers. On the DB side, plan sponsors enjoyed improved returns but remain shackled as historic lows in interest rates exacerbate deficits.
Of the three major balance sheets available to investors, corporations are in the best shape.
Traditionally investors have viewed ETFs as passive strategies that replicate the performance of an index. That is changing, however, with the growing popularity of strategy funds that seek to add a layer of active management to what has tended to be a passive approach.
The Canadian dollar is breaking through parity again and has been described by currency traders as the “master of the universe.” So is this a good time to revisit currency-hedging programs?
The active versus passive battle continues.
Then this week investors pushed their money into fixed income ETFs at record levels. According to BlackRock's latest ETP Landscape report, fixed income ETPs set a new global record, attracting $9.1bn in January 2012 – 27% of overall inflows into the ETP space. The influx of money into fixed income ETPs could also reflect growing concerns about the value of active management in the bond space – something that is evident after PIMCO experienced its worst year ever, with investors pulling more money out of its flagship $250 billion Total Return Fund than they put in.