A high-inflation environment is pushing Canadian pension plan sponsors toward alternative sources of fixed income, according to a white paper released by Coalition Greenwich. The white paper, which was commissioned by Toronto-based AGF Investments, is based on telephone interviews with 31 Canadian corporate and public sector pension plan sponsors and endowment fund managers. It found […]
Diversified pooled fund managers saw median losses of 4.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2022, according to LifeWorks Inc.’s performance universe. While Canadian equities increased 3.8 per cent on the S&P/TSX composite index, the median return for Canadian equity managers was just three per cent. Significant losses were seen in the U.S., with the […]
Canada’s institutional investors saw assets decline by 4.61 per cent in the first quarter of 2022, according to the BNY Mellon Canadian master trust universe. With respect to non-traditional asset classes, real estate delivered the highest performance, with a quarterly median return of 4.65 per cent. Among traditional asset classes, Canadian equities performed best. During the […]
In spite of overall losses, Canadian defined benefit pension plans saw their financial positions improve on a solvency and accountancy basis in April, according to LifeWorks Inc.’s latest monthly report. An investment portfolio designed to mimic that of a typical pension saw its assets decline by 5.3 per cent over the month. Despite this, the […]
Canada’s defined benefit pension plans saw average losses of 5.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2022, according to a new report by RBC Investor and Treasury Services. During the quarter, DB plans saw their largest overall contraction of worth since the first quarter of 2020. In a press release, Niki Zaphiratos, managing director of […]
Despite rising concerns about inflation and the war in Ukraine, the funded position of a typical Canadian defined benefit pension plan improved slightly on both a solvency and accounting basis in February, according to a new report by LifeWorks Inc. In February, the solvency of the average DB pension plan rose by half a per […]
The strong performance of domestic equites in the last months of 2021 helped Canadian defined benefit pension plans secure median annual returns of 8.9 per cent, according to a new report by RBC Investor and Treasury Services. During the year, Canadian DB plans performed best during the second and fourth quarters, with median asset growth […]
The average Canadian defined benefit pension plan saw improvements on a solvency and accountancy basis in December, according to LifeWorks Inc.’s latest monthly report. It found the average plan saw its solvency index rise to a new high of 112.1 per cent, up from 110.4 per cent at the end of November. Its balance sheet […]
Last year was a tumultuous one, with economies ravaged by successive waves of coronavirus pandemic-related stresses and closures. Despite the negative impact these forces had on the economy, the stock market continued to rebound from the March 2020 correction and performed well. And in the face of higher volatility, U.S. stock exchanges were the highest […]
With many defined benefit pension plan solvency ratios at all-time highs, plan sponsors have an excellent opportunity to rethink their approach to investing, according to Shivin Kwatra, head of liability-driven investing portfolio management at Insight Investments. “It is important to highlight two approaches to investing: one [is] traditional — a mean variance framework of maximizing […]