The Nasdaq is launching a publicly available, web-based sustainable bond network. Bond issuers will be able to use the platform to voluntarily publish data and information on their sustainable offerings, aiming to give investors better ability to compare products. At the outset, the network will feature data from certain European and U.S. bond issuers, with […]
In 2009, the Air Canada pension plan was in dire straits with a $2.6 billion solvency deficit. A decade later, it has a surplus of more than $2 billion. The complete turnaround is in part due to a new investment team that joined in 2009 and transformed the pension fund’s investments. With the $21 billion […]
About three-quarters (73 per cent) of global institutional investors ranked interest rates as a key portfolio risk, according to a new survey by Natixis Investment Managers. The survey, which polled 200 chief investment officers and investment team members at life, property and casualty and reinsurance companies in Asia, Europe and North America, found concerns about […]
Globally, negative yielding bonds are alarming investors. And while Canadian government bonds haven’t gone negative, movement in other countries is demonstrating to institutional investors that anything is possible. So if bond yields do go negative, what could this mean for Canadian pension plans’ funding statuses? Canadian defined benefit plans can be valued in three different ways, all […]
Since the Teachers’ Retirement Allowance Fund, which is the defined benefit pension plan for public school teachers and other eligible employees in Manitoba, was introduced in 1925, it has made significant strides around asset mix and governance. In the early days, the fund’s asset mix consisted largely of federal, provincial and municipal bonds, but in […]
Canada has learned a lot from the U.K. Diversified growth funds, which began crossing the pond in 2008, are the latest import. But the funds still haven’t gained much traction over the last decade, though they do offer pension plans another option in their portfolio. A diversified growth fund is a fund that targets a […]
Millennials appear to understand how to use fixed income as part of investing for retirement better than older generations, according to a new survey by BNY Mellon Investment Management. The survey, which polled more than 2,000 American adults about the appropriate time to add fixed income to an investment portfolio, found 45 per cent of baby […]
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board saw a 2.3 per cent return, net of all costs, in the second quarter of its 2020 fiscal year for its base account and a 1.9 per cent return for its additional account. “CPPIB continued to deliver steady returns this quarter,” said Mark Machin, president and chief executive officer of […]
As market uncertainty causes a slowdown in Europe’s economy, an accommodating central bank and negative interest rates are making its bond markets more attractive to institutional investors than those in the United States. “Europe is a very export-led economy and Germany, in particular, is driven by exports to the rest of the world,” said Rod […]
Canada’s defined benefit pension plans posted a median return of 1.6 per cent in 2019’s third quarter, according to Northern Trust Canada’s pension universe. “Despite a backdrop of persistent volatility, fear and uncertainty, Canadian pension plans displayed resilience in the third quarter,” said Arti Sharma, president and chief executive officer of Northern Trust Canada, in a press […]