Will real estate help Canadian pension plans weather the coronavirus pandemic or will being a landlord prove to be a liability in an economic crisis? For several years, Canadian pension plans have been broadening the regional scope of their real estate holdings, diversifying portfolios in asset classes and geographic exposures. But with the coronavirus pandemic […]
In 2009, when Vincent Morin walked through the doors of Air Canada as the vice-president of asset allocation and strategy for its investment division, he faced a tough situation. The company’s eight defined benefit pension plans, which buy units of a single master trust fund, were facing a $2.6 billion deficit. In the following years, […]
In recent years, investing with a gender lens has become far more popular among institutional investors. “Part of it is awareness and part of it is some of the performance,” said Jackie VanderBrug, managing director and head of sustainable and impact investment strategy at Bank of America Corp., during a webinar hosted by the Forum for […]
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is acquiring a 49 per cent of the entity that holds Enbridge Inc.’s stake in Éolien Maritime France SAS, Enbridge’s partnership with EDF Renewables. The investment is set to support the development of three offshore wind farms in France. The CPPIB is paying €80 million for its stake, with a further €120 […]
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board are participating in a $390-million series-D round of financing for Grail Inc., a U.S. health-care company focused on cancer testing. The financing is aimed at boosting the company’s balance sheet to support its continued development, as well as the commercialization of its cancer testing method. […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is purchasing a three per cent net smelter return royalty on gold production at Monarch Gold Corp.’s Beaufor mine in Quebec for $5 million. The $5 million will be payable to Monarch in two instalments — $3 million upon closing of the transaction and an additional $2 […]
Real estate companies, just like many other businesses, are in a bizarre holding pattern, waiting for some of the measures necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic to ease. “You do have a certain amount of time you can hold your breath and the video technology and so forth has enabled us to hold our breath longer, […]
Searchlight Capital Partners, along with several Canadian pension investors, is acquiring the U.S. Northwest operations and assets of internet and telephone services provider Frontier Communications, forming a new company called Ziply Fiber. First announced in May 2019, Searchlight Capital has now completed the acquisition along with the British Columbia Investment Management Corp., the Canada Pension Plan Investment […]
Last August, I wrote about whether central banks were creating a financial bubble with their coordinated easing programs intended to spur economic growth and/or lift inflation. In January 2020, I wrote about the end of the economic cycle, the potential for a recession and what that might mean for positioning an investment portfolio. Little did I […]
OMERS Ventures, the venture capital arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, has closed a US$750 million venture capital fund. The transatlantic fund is investing in companies related to financial systems, insurance, property, logistics, health and workplace technology in Canada, the U.S., the U.K., and other countries in Europe, raising series-A to series-C financing. […]