When the coronavirus pushed equity markets off a cliff, Canadian defined benefit pension plans had to mobilize to address a number of concerns. The Canadian National Railway Co. pension recently shifted towards a more defensive investment strategy, said Marlene Puffer, president and chief executive officer for the CN investment division of the company, at a webinar […]
Employers that act as pension plan administrators have statutory fiduciary duties that are defined by the plan documents and by governing pension legislation. While those duties continue to apply during the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting market volatility, they require even more careful navigation, as cash flow and internal corporate resources may be strained. Pension regulators across […]
The City of Toronto has launched a social debenture framework to fund investments in affordable housing, transit and other basic infrastructure, access to essential services and other projects that benefit marginalized and vulnerable Torontonians. The city, which is waiting for more favourable market conditions to issue its first social bond, is the first municipality in […]
The British Columbia Investment Management Corp. is touting its 2019 environmental, social and governance successes in its annual ESG report. Some highlights from the year include that it finalized the introduction of a new corporate-wide ESG strategy including priorities and procedures for ESG reviews across all asset classes. As part of the strategy, the BCI’s […]
Ivanhoé Cambridge, the real estate arm of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, is helping small and medium-sized tenants in its Canadian shopping centres by partnering with Lightspeed POS Inc. to provide free access to two e-commerce solutions for one year. The first solution is Lightspeed Retail, a point-of-sale solution that offers tools […]
With the coronavirus-induced shutdown causing ripples in public and private markets alike, infrastructure assets took a hit in the first quarter of 2020 — and the worst may still be coming. According to data from the EDHEC Infrastructure Institute, infrastructure assets experienced a sharp drop in returns in the quarter. The decline was driven by […]
Canadian employment numbers rose by 290,000 in May, or a 1.8 per cent increase on the previous month, as provinces started to reopen their economies, according to new data from Statistics Canada. The number of people who reported working less than half their usual hours in May dropped by 292,000 or 8.6 per cent. Combined, […]
Statistics Canada is reporting a record high unemployment rate as the economy added 289,600 jobs in May, with businesses reopening amid easing public health restrictions. The unemployment rate rose to 13.7 per cent, topping the previous high of 13.1 per cent set in December 1982 in more than four decades of comparable data. The increase […]
The Local Authorities Pension Plan is reporting a $3.4-billion loss in an “exceedingly difficult” first quarter, reducing the size of the fund by 6.5 per cent. The LAPP reported $47.2 billion in assets as of March 31, down from $50.6 billion at the beginning of the year. However, it said the impact on the fund would have been […]
While some defined contribution pension plan members may push their retirement plans back because of market turmoil caused by the coronavirus, others won’t be willing to do so. Those soon-to-be retirees will have to take other measures to ensure they can retire, which will likely include diversifying their potential sources of retirement income, according to […]