Canada could experience a 2.6-fold increase in visits to mental-health practitioners and up to a 20 per cent increase in antidepressant prescriptions due to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report by Deloitte. The report explored the human and social impact of natural disasters and periods of economic hardship — such as […]
In the wake of the coronavirus fallout, real estate, infrastructure and private debt investors seem to be zeroing in on well-established managers, according to Preqin Ltd. data for the second quarter of 2020. With no surprise, real estate saw a challenging second quarter with a decline in activity in funds closing compared to the first […]
Ontario’s overworked and underpaid personal support workers will soon be receiving government assistance, the province’s premier said Thursday as he heaped praise on a group who have been on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19 in long-term care homes. Doug Ford said recent conversations with PSWs at his mother-in-law’s long-term care home in […]
The ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic, coupled with the increased awareness and societal response to anti-Black racism, is continuing to affect Canadians’ mental health, according to the latest mental-health index by Morneau Shepell Ltd. With a score of negative 10, a very slight improvement on negative 11 last month, the index measures the improvement or […]
While a majority (55 per cent) of North American employers said they expect most of their furloughed workers will return to work by the first quarter of 2021, just 16 per cent said they expect to rehire laid-off employees by then, according to a new survey by Willis Towers Watson. It also found respondents expect the proportion […]
Despite the coronavirus pandemic’s severe and disproportionate impact on the health of aging adults, older Canadians say they’re coping far better than younger demographics, according to a new study by Edward D. Jones & Co. in partnership with Age Wave, a U.S.-based think tank focused on issues relating to aging populations. The study, which included […]
Defined contribution plan members saw a bounce-back in equity markets in the second quarter of 2020, boosting their gross income replacement ratios from the lows of the first quarter, according to Eckler Ltd.’s latest capital accumulation plan income tracker report. A typical male DC plan member retiring at age 65 at the end of June […]
Strong public market performance helped Canadian defined benefit pension plans reverse their first-quarter losses, according to a new report by BNY Mellon Asset Management Canada. The median second quarter return for the 84 Canadian corporate, public and university pension plans in BNY Mellon’s Canadian master trust universe was 9.23 per cent, up from the first quarter median […]
Nova Scotia Pension Services Corp. finished 2019 with almost $12 billion in assets under management and reported sharply diverging year-end results for the two pension plans it manages. The Nova Scotia Teachers’ Pension Plan, which ended its fiscal year on Dec. 31, 2019, had a 12.36 per cent net return, as reported in late April. The TPP […]
The current market environment has the potential for long-term effects on the defined benefit pension investment industry, according to a new report by Cerulli Associates. Broadly, investment consultants said they’ve been preparing their DB pension plan sponsor clients for a potential downturn for up to two years, noted the report. And, as plans have begun […]