The funded position of a typical Canadian defined benefit pension plan decreased to 107 per cent in August, down from to 107.8 per cent at the end of July, according to Telus Health’s latest pension index. It found a representative pension plan portfolio returned 0.4 per cent for the month due to strong performances by Canadian equities […]
The New York State Common Retirement Fund is restricting its exposure in eight integrated oil and gas companies, including divesting a portion of its investment in Exxon Mobil Corp. In a press release, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said the decision was fueled by a review of the oil companies — Guanghui Energy Company, […]
While fixed income has long had the reputation of being the conservative and stable supporting partner in the traditional balanced portfolio, unbundling fixed income into its sub-components presents opportunities for enhanced risk-adjusted returns, said Aaron Young, vice-president and client portfolio manager at CIBC Asset Management. When investors buy the FTSE universe bond index or even […]
“Plans are, for the first time in a long time, in a position to off-load risk,” says Murray Wright, one of the contributors to LifeWorks Inc.’s monthly report on Canadian pensions. According to Wright, the principal of retirement and financial solutions at LifeWorks, pension chief financial officers are paying particular attention to one number found […]
Two experts weigh in on the merits and drawbacks of taking the traditional annuities route versus opting for the newer do-it-yourself option. Marco Dickner, retirement risk management leader for Willis Towers Watson in Canada Although annuity purchases have become an important pension risk management option over the last decade, a countertrend is emerging for plan […]
How do the European Central Bank’s monetary-policy decisions influence corporate debt levels in the U.S.? The ECB’s purchasing of investment-grade, corporate, Euro-denominated bonds seemingly crowded Eurozone institutional investors out of such instruments and Eurozone investors increased their allocations to U.S. dollar corporate bonds soon after, according to a new paper by Kerry Siani, a PhD […]
Environmental, social and governance factors are highly relevant to fixed income investment outcomes, but integration is complicated by the variety of issuers within the asset class. For corporate fixed income, integration is quite simple. Issuers could use the same frameworks as their equity counterparts, such as the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board’s materiality map, said Joshua […]
The recent market turmoil caused by the coronavirus crisis has increased the focus on rebalancing decisions for many Canadian pension plans. As certain asset classes outperform others, a portfolio’s asset mix will drift overtime from its long-term targets. To ensure no significant divergence from the target, rebalancing triggers the sale of the strong performing asset […]
Market turmoil caused by the coronavirus served as a real-life test for bond funds and their liquidity, according to a new paper from the Bank of Canada. The amount of corporate bonds held by open-ended fixed-income mutual funds is growing, sitting at around 23 per cent of the total market of corporate Canadian-dollar denominated bonds, […]
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 […]