In a challenging 2018 market environment, the Ontario Pension Board finished the year with an annual investment return of 1.8 per cent, down from 10.8 per cent in 2017. “This return reflected the challenging investment environment in 2018, including slowing global growth, rising central bank rates that tightened liquidity and uncertain geopolitical events such as […]
The U.S. customized target-date fund market grew to US$430 billion at the end of 2017, according to the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association. The DCIIA’s inaugural survey on the market, which included data from 65 plans with a total of 673 different funds, found the majority of these funds are allocated to a mix of equities and fixed income. […]
Global institutional investors are considering different portfolio constructions to ensure outperformance in what they increasingly worry is a lower return environment, according to a new survey by Fidelity Investments. The survey, which polled 905 institutional investors in 25 countries with combined assets under management of US$29 trillion, found investors with at least $1 billion in AUM expected to make the largest […]
As part of an ongoing joint venture, the Public Sector Pension Investment Board is purchasing a purpose-built student accommodation in London, England. Together with Greystar Real Estate Partners and Allianz Real Estate, the PSP is taking on the property, called Paul St. East, from Apache Capital Partners for more than $241 million. The acquisition is part of the Chapter […]
The British Columbia Investment Management Corp. is teaming up with RBC Global Asset Management Inc. and QuadReal Property Group on a project involving $7 billion worth of commercial real estate. The venture will bring together more than 40 of the BCI’s existing Canadian real estate assets in one portfolio. The BCI and the newly minted RBC Canadian […]
The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan grew its assets to $79 billion in 2018, up from $77.8 billion at the end of 2017. However, the plan’s funded status fell slightly to 121 per cent, down from 122 per cent the previous year. It eked out a positive 2.17 per cent return in 2018, beating its benchmark, which returned […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, along with Altas Partners, is selling Capital Vision Services. West Street Capital Partners VII, a fund managed by Goldman Sachs’ merchant banking division, will be taking on the U.S. company, which provides management services for MyEyeDr.’s optometry practices. Read: AIMCo investing in Alberta pipeline, Caisse taking on shares in mining company “CVS […]
The OPSEU Pension Trust is partnering with several investment firms to buy three buildings in the downtown Toronto financial district. The properties are anchored to the Dynamic Funds Tower, the OPTrust’s current corporate headquarters. The other investors include the Great-West Life Real Estate Fund, the London Life Real Estate Fund and I.G. Investment Management Ltd. […]
In 2018, investment in Canadian real estate turned out to be a broadly lucrative venture for the country’s institutional investors, especially when compared with how poorly equities performed during the year, according to Simon Fairchild, executive director at MSCI Inc. Speaking at an event in Toronto on Friday, Fairchild described how MSCI’s Realpac Canada property index […]
Institutional plan sponsors lost a median of 3.8 per cent in 2018, as losses in the fourth quarter of the year dragged down returns, according to new data by Northern Trust Corp. The Northern Trust Universe, which tracks the performance of about 300 large U.S. institutional investment plans with a combined asset value of about $925.7 billion, found […]