Strong public market performance helped Canadian defined benefit pension plans reverse their first-quarter losses, according to a new report by BNY Mellon Asset Management Canada. The median second quarter return for the 84 Canadian corporate, public and university pension plans in BNY Mellon’s Canadian master trust universe was 9.23 per cent, up from the first quarter median […]
The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund are each taking on a 50 per cent stake in New Zealand-based pathology business Asia Pacific Healthcare Group. Healthscope, a national private health-care provider in Australia, is selling the business in a deal valued at more than NZ$550 million, subject to customary approvals. Healthscope’s sale of the […]
Climate change has accelerated the risk of expensive natural disasters, but these risks still aren’t being adequately taken into consideration in investment decisions. “Climate risks oftentimes are evaluated more under ‘E’ in [environmental, social and governance risk assessments],” said Jeff Schlegelmilch, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, in a webinar hosted […]
The British Columbia Investment Management Corp. rounded out its fiscal year with a three per cent return, slightly underperforming its 3.3 per cent benchmark. In dollar terms, the BCI added $17.8 billion as of March 31, 2020, rounding to a total $171.3 billion in assets under management. The three per cent return represented something of […]
What makes the fees and terms of one private equity deal better than another? A new study by Callan examined 90 private equity partnerships to compare their fees and terms structures with the aim of helping institutional investors better evaluate these funds. Notably, the funds studied tilted toward the buyout variety (76 per cent) and […]
Sun Life Financial is making an equity investment of $32.7 million in Canadian telemedicine provider Dialogue, with the two entities forming a strategic commercial partnership. Through the deal, Sun Life will hold a minority ownership position in Dialogue. The round of financing also includes further investments from existing backers, including the Caisse de dépôt et placement […]
The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, along with three other large pension plans and other stakeholders, is forming the Global Peer Financing Association. The goal of the GPFA is to encourage and improve options for peer-to-peer trading activity in the securities lending and repo markets for the benefit of asset owners, according to a press release. […]
Canadian defined benefit plan sponsors are holding an almost equal amount of fixed income and equity in their portfolios, according to the Pension Investment Association of Canada’s 2019 asset mix report. The report found the PIAC’s membership reported a total of more than $2.2 trillion under management last year, up from just under $2.1 trillion in 2018. As well, […]
The purchase offer for Cirque du Soleil from its secured creditors risks eliminating Quebec’s longstanding presence as a shareholder and causing losses of tens of millions of dollars to two of the province’s largest institutional investors. A US$1.2-billion takeover proposal by a group of debt holders, which was approved on Friday as the benchmark bid […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, along with French utility company Engie, is acquiring the remaining 10 per cent stake in Brazilian oil and gas transportation network company Transportadora Associada de Gás. Together, the two entities bought 90 per cent of the enterprise in 2019. The latest transaction is valued at about €160 million and brings Engie’s […]