Coming out of the fastest market crash in history, asset owners are cautiously optimistic heading into a vastly changed investment landscape, according to a new survey by bfinance. Indeed, 82 per cent of surveyed asset owners, including pension funds, endowments and sovereign wealth funds, said they’re satisfied with how their portfolios have performed so far […]
The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan posted a negative return of 0.4 per cent in the first half of 2020. “The pandemic has brought some specific challenges,” said Jo Taylor, the plan’s president and chief executive officer, on a conference call on Tuesday. “Global economic growth has come to a standstill, job losses have spiralled upwards, […]
While intangible assets like human capital and culture are increasingly at the forefront of employers’ concerns, frameworks to manage these factors are lagging, according to a new paper by Willis Towers Watson and the World Economic Forum. As the world resets to a new reality amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it noted, it will be critical to an […]
The Bank of Canada is turning to the public for input on its inflation-rate target that underlies any changes to the central bank’s trend-setting interest rate. The bank had already planned on a much broader consultation than what it did for previous reviews long before the coronavirus pandemic struck Canada and forced a sharp decline […]
Morneau Shepell Ltd. is expanding its clinical network capacity by 25 per cent. The growth, which is intended to increase the organization’s ability to provide immediate mental-health support to Canadians, anticipated a rise in outreach for coronavirus-related concerns, such as anxieties around returning to work and children returning to school and compounding stress about an […]
The Ontario division of the Canadian Mental Health Association is providing a toolkit for employers and employees to help them navigate the complex mental-health realities of physically returning to work as the coronavirus pandemic continues. Developed in partnership with Mental Health Works and BounceBack Ontario, the toolkit seeks to help employers create policies and procedures to […]
Some employees are seeing less value in their benefits and are less confident in their employers’ ability to provide them, according to a new survey by the Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. The survey polled U.S. workers in March 2020 and again in June. In March, 80 per cent of survey respondents said they value […]
In the months following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, anxiety is on the rise over other mental-health conditions, overtaking depression as the No. 1 mental-health concern Canadians are seeking treatment for, according to a new analysis by MindBeacon Group. The organization’s clinical team, led by Dr. Peter Farvolden, its chief science officer, took a […]
Texas-based Insurance Zebra is stepping up for employee wellness by helping them welcome furry friends into their lives. The insurer has added a $300 annual benefit for employees adopting a new dog or cat and encouraging staff to take paid time off for “paw-ternity” leave. “There was a time a while ago when I took my […]
Four types of new habits and perspectives are expected to define the post-coronavirus era and could impact investment portfolios, according to new analysis by Thinking Ahead, the thought leadership lab at the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The research, co-authored by Caitlin Walsh, senior portfolio manager, and Ruby Grewal, portfolio manager, analyzed the breadth of […]