Sun Life Financial launched its new investment company Sun Life Global Investments (Canada) Inc. on October 13, which will roll out a new lineup of funds that harnesses world-class investment and product capabilities. The company will start accepting client investments on October 25, and will offer a suite of 12 funds, including seven funds sub-advised […]
Behavioural finance, or the study of investor psychology, marries the psychology of decision-making with investors’ trading behaviour and asset pricing. Departures from rational decision-making emerge because individuals do not enjoy unlimited information-processing capabilities and instead rely on rules of thumb when making decisions under uncertainty. This leads to systematic cognitive errors and mispriced assets. But […]
Integrated Asset Management Corp. (IAM) has launched a new global alternative investment manager, River Plate House Capital Management Inc. River Plate will offer long- and short-term investment strategies focused on real interest rates, as well as customized solutions for managing liability and risk. Michael Hyman is the company founder, president, CEO and chief investment officer, […]
In November 2009, I questioned if the pension industry is an example of ‘The Peter Principle’ in action. In other words, has the pension industry been promoted to its own level of incompetency? My conclusion was no, due to the very difficult and prolonged landscape presented by low interest rates for defined benefit pension plans. […]
The considerable traction gained by liability driven investing (LDI) both in Canada and abroad is well documented. Ongoing challenges to pension plan funded status stemming from weak equity markets and declining interest rates during the past decade have surprised some and, almost certainly, disappointed most. The growth and maturity of pension plan liabilities and the […]
The litany of ignoring global diversification warnings is familiar to any student of portfolio management. With Canada representing less than 5% of global equity markets, it’s only fitting that investors diversify globally to find best-in-class companies no matter where they’re located. Of these, emerging and developing economies account for 85% of the world’s population and […]
Canadian pension plans have become more global on the equity side over the past decade, but many haven’t crossed the border beyond domestic fixed income strategies. Avoiding global fixed income markets, however, limits the potential for strong risk-adjusted returns over the long term. Underexposure to the wide spectrum of fixed income investments could mean pension […]
Since the global financial crisis, asset allocation isn’t what it used to be. That is the main message behind State Street’s latest report, which explains how the line between strategic and tactical asset allocation has become porous—resulting in a more holistic decision-making process regarding risk management. In Vision Focus: Rethinking Asset Allocation, State Street illustrates […]
Alternatives has been the buzzword among pension investors for the past few years. Investments in alternative asset classes were going to solve everyone’s problems—improve returns and funded positions, and reduce reliance on equity markets and their associated volatility. Unfortunately, this has not turned out to be the case for many. In 1999, pension funds in […]
Investors looking for a leg up should pay attention to the mood of the Chinese business community four months ago and whether it’s an even or odd-numbered year, according to portfolio managers with Fidelity Investments. In a recent webcast on market volatility, Fidelity’s head of Canadian equities Andrew Marchese and asset allocation director Trevor Greetham […]