cash – Benefits Canada.com

Pension funds playing defence amid coronavirus crisis

mschmit — Wed, 02 Dec 2020 04:32:11 +0000

Despite several bumps in the decade since the 2008/09 financial crisis, the swift and brutal crash in global equity prices when the coronavirus was declared a pandemic sent pension investors reaching for their playbooks to implement defensive strategies to mitigate the damage. “People have worked very hard at just acting on the set strategies that […]

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Balancing liquidity and the search for yield at U.S. public pension funds

mschmit — Mon, 10 Aug 2020 04:04:30 +0000

U.S. public pension funds can expect to see hurdles from the coronavirus crisis similar to those experienced in past recessions, according to a new report by Cerulli Associates. In the past two recessions, public plans saw a decrease in their funded statuses. “According to survey data gathered form the National Association of State Retirement Administrators, […]

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A look at cash in the new investment environment

mschmit — Wed, 25 Sep 2019 05:26:13 +0000

In the current market environment, there may be good reasons for investors to consider increasing their portfolio’s allocations to cash, according to a new report by Mercer. At the end of August 2019, cash yielded more than long bonds, says Dave Makarchuk, partner and Western Canada wealth business leader at Mercer, noting Canadian 91-day treasury […]

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Board governance and the connection to asset allocation

mschmit — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 03:35:17 +0000

Well-governed boards have greater international diversification and lower cash holdings, according to a working paper by Carolina Salva and Nadège Bregnard from the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. “Why would pension fund board governance shape asset allocations?” the paper asked. “In our view, asset allocations are potentially associated to board inefficiencies that can arise when […]

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Via Rail Pension Plan Case Study: Increasing allocations to cash

mschmit — Mon, 03 Dec 2018 03:59:26 +0000

Via Rail’s defined benefit plan is maturing, with about 70 per cent of liabilities tied to retirees or deferred members. To adapt to this changing demographic trend in the current interest rate environment, the plan has changed its investment approach and doubled its allocations to cash, says François Quinty, director of investment management at Via […]

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