The outbreak of the novel coronavirus has triggered major corrections in the equity, commodity and debt markets as participants try to gauge the full extent of its impact. It is times like these when the advantages of insurance-linked securities become apparent again. Insurance-linked securities are financial instruments whose performance is driven by the occurrence of […]
While real assets have traditionally served institutional investors well during times of economic stress, the ramifications of the coronavirus pandemic are starting to take their toll in some places. In commercial real estate, investors will likely re-evaluate their capital spending for 2020 in pockets like Edmonton and Calgary with the areas hit hard by the […]
Last week marked the beginning of an unprecedented one-year program through which the Bank of Canada is purchasing corporate bonds. The program, originally announced on April 15, aims to support the corporate debt market’s liquidity and “proper functioning.” It involves TD Asset Management purchasing bonds through a tender process on the secondary market on behalf […]
The Ontario government is giving health-care providers, including dentists, massage therapists, optometrists and psychologists, the green light to gradually reopen their practices. The order from the province’s chief medical officer of health also included chiropractors, physiotherapists, dieticians, naturopaths and acupuncturists. However, it stipulated that the approved health-care providers can only reopen if their regulatory colleges allow them to do so […]
While Morneau Shepell Ltd.’s latest mental-health index had the same score — a negative 12-point decline from the pre-coronavirus pandemic benchmark of 75 — as last month’s index, the sub scores showed a modest improvement in anxiety countered by a larger increase in isolation. The main factors contributing to poorer mental health in the month […]
Canada’s economy had its worst quarterly showing since 2009 through the first three months of 2020 owing to the novel coronavirus, Statistics Canada said Friday, warning an even steeper drop may be coming. Gross domestic product fell at an annualized rate of 8.2 per cent in the first quarter, including a 7.2-per-cent drop in March […]
In the group benefits world, the first rumblings of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic came when plan sponsors started asking, as early as January, about their travel insurance provisions. “Clients were worried about their business travellers and expatriate employees, in China mostly, and afterwards for their employees travelling for their winter vacations,” said Daniel […]
The Association of Canadian Pension Management’s Alberta regional council is highlighting the need for “made-in-Alberta” measures focused on pension plan sponsors, administrators and members due to the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic. In a submission to the provincial government, the council listed recommendations around pension contributions and funding, commuted values, plan administration, defined contribution […]
The union representing more than 200,000 Canadian public sector employees says the Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s investment in a for-profit, long-term care provider is inconsistent with its fiduciary and legal obligations to plan members. The Public Service Alliance of Canada is calling on the PSP to end its investment in Revera Inc., its wholly […]
Sun Life is making a mental-health navigator available to plan members, aiming to help them find support during the coronavirus pandemic. The navigator, provided by Teladoc Health Inc.’s Best Doctors, connects plan members with a case manager who will assess their health history, set up a consultation with a psychologist or psychiatrist and keep in touch to make […]