Active management is not dead, judging by the results of the first three months of 2010. Three quarters of Canadian Large Cap active managers outperformed S&P/TSX, according to the Russell Active Manager Report, the highest level since the second quarter of 2004. “The last two quarters have really highlighted the benefits of active management,” says […]
Many products in the institutional investment market were tested by the 2008/09 financial crisis, and target date funds (TDFs) were no exception. Still relatively new in Canada, TDFs have existed in the U.S. since the 1990s. In 2009, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Labor held a hearing to examine the […]
Restless institutional investors eager for fresh perspectives on liability driven investing propelled a 22% increase in global search activity in 2009, according to Mercer. The consultant advised on 826 manager searches globally last year, up from 676 in 2008, representing US$97.2 billon in assets placed by 406 institutional investors. Canada Canadian search activity increased from […]
Strong investment returns of 13% in 2009 were not enough to bolster the fortunes of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (Teachers’), which is now facing unfunded liabilities of $17.1 billion. The year saw the fund’s assets rise to $96.4 billion, more than four percentage points over its benchmarked return. However, its traditional allocation stalwarts—private equity, infrastructure […]
Institutional investors around the world are pushing back against a hedge fund practice that isolates up to 10% of an investor’s assets, according to a survey. Credit Suisse’s Annual Hedge Fund Investor Survey, representing a combined US$1 trillion of funds under management, finds that institutional investors are challenging hedge fund managers over redemption fees and […]
Falling asset values and low interest rates conspired to pull down the average funding ratio of Canadian pension funds in 2009, according to research by Greenwich Associates. The consulting firm notes that funding ratios declined to an average of 90% in 2009 from 99% in 2008, partly due to a 17% year-to-year reduction in asset […]
Contrary to suggestions by naysayers, the global private equity industry weathered the great recession rather stoically, and is now poised to see a marked increase in activity going forward, says David M. Rubenstein, cofounder and managing director of The Carlyle Group, one of the world’s largest private equity firms. As the keynote speaker at the […]
As the hedge fund industry continues its recovery, the world's largest hedge fund firm reported that its assets are down again this year.
The vast majority of Canadian investors don’t know a large portion of their retirement income can be generated from investment growth, according to a survey by Russell Investments and Harris/Decima Retirement Research. Most respondents (88%) were oblivious to the possibility that about 60% of their investment income could come from growth that occurs during retirement. […]
The 130/30 strategy—which utilizes leverage by underweighting (shorting) poor performing stocks and overweighting undervalued stocks—is not new to institutional investors. Hedge funds have used it for years. However, in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the lack of transparency inherent in hedge funds has made the strategy unpalatable for many institutional investors, who have […]