Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the government plans to move out-of-work Canadians into the employment insurance system and provide parallel support for millions set to exhaust emergency pandemic aid who don’t have EI to fall back on. The $80-billion Canada Emergency Response Benefit is set to wind down over the coming weeks, with those who […]
Private equity fundraising slowed in the second quarter of 2020, reaching only US$116 billion, its lowest quarterly point since the first quarter of 2018, according to Preqin’s quarterly private equity report. Further, private equity funds are taking longer to reach targets than last year. Only 39 per cent of funds that closed in the first […]
While factor behaviour tends to be consistent in market crashes and corrections, individual factor performance varies over the medium term. As such, institutional investors should maintain diversified exposure across key equity factors including value, quality, momentum, size and low volatility, according to a new paper by Mercer. The paper explored the past three financial crises: […]
Royal Bank of Canada and TD Bank Group say most of their staff will work from home until next year to further stop the spread of the coronavirus. Helena Gottschling, RBC’s chief human resources officer, said in a memo to bank staff that most employees will work from home until at least 2021. She said a very […]
Sun Life Financial is making an equity investment of $32.7 million in Canadian telemedicine provider Dialogue, with the two entities forming a strategic commercial partnership. Through the deal, Sun Life will hold a minority ownership position in Dialogue. The round of financing also includes further investments from existing backers, including the Caisse de dépôt et placement […]
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned Wednesday that the viral epidemic is endangering the modest economic recovery that followed a collapse in hiring and spending this spring. As a result, he said, the Fed plans to keep interest rates pinned near zero well into the future. That faltering economy, pressured by a resurgence of the […]
Canadian defined benefit pension plans experienced an upsurge in the second quarter of 2020, posting a median return of 9.6 per cent, according to RBC Investor and Treasury Services’ universe of DB pension plans. After the first quarter’s median return of negative 7.1 per cent, the rally marked the highest single quarter return in the […]
Four in five (80 per cent) Canadian employers believe they have the appropriate programs and practices in place to support employees’ mental, physical, emotional and financial well-being as they return to the workplace and settle into a new normal, according to a new survey by Mercer Canada. The survey, which examined Canadian organizations’ preparedness for returning to […]
Canadian defined benefit pension plans recovered some of their losses from the start of 2020 in the second quarter off the back of strong public equity gains, according to the Northern Trust Canada universe. With stimulus spending to tackle the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic taking effect in many countries, stock markets rebounded with […]
More than half (58 per cent) of working Canadians said they feel more concerned about their financial situation due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new survey by the Canadian Payroll Association. The survey, which polled more than 4,000 employed Canadians, found 54 per cent said their company is facing serious economic impacts from […]