Canada’s inflation rate turned negative in April as the economy came to a standstill in the first full month of the pandemic as part of a spending shift that a top central banker says may signal further changes in consumption patterns post-COVID-19. Statistics Canada said Wednesday the consumer price index for April fell 0.2 per […]
In times of crisis, many pension plan sponsors pull back on investing in private equity, including the secondary market, because they’re trying to assess their liquidity needs, says Joseph Marks, global head of secondaries at Capital Dynamics. But this pulling back often happens at a time when they should be putting their foot on the […]
At a time of uncertainty caused by the coronavirus crisis, active ownership is more important than ever, says Kevin Thomas, chief executive officer of the Shareholder Association for Research and Education. Many organizations are trying to influence companies and policy-makers, and those voices matter, he notes. “You don’t want to be sitting on the sidelines.” […]
The novel coronavirus pandemic has been an enormous human tragedy and its ultimate impact on the global economy remains impossible to predict. For many companies, the damage is likely to be severe, perhaps permanent, and this has been justifiably reflected in depressed share prices. But a key lesson from previous crashes is that periods of […]
The Canada Revenue Agency is waiving the minimum one per cent employer contribution requirement for defined contribution pension plans for the rest of 2020. To take advantage of the contribution relief, employers must amend their DC plans to suspend accruals for the year, meaning no employer or employee contributions can be made. Further, DC plan […]
In the current market environment, institutional investors worried about cash management want advance notice of when capital calls are coming, says Stuart Waugh, managing partner at Northleaf Capital Partners. In response, Northleaf has created a new matrix to help institutional investors. “We actually built a matrix of all of our investors across all of our […]
Digital is the new normal for committee and board meetings, so people must get used to it, says Rahul Bhardwaj, president and chief executive officer, of the Institute of Corporate Directors. Pension plan sponsors are under lots of strain in the current environment. “You want to make sure that you have efficient, effective meetings that […]
Canadian equities were the worst performing traditional asset category in the first quarter, according to a report that sizes up the financial impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic and concurrent decline in world oil prices during the first three months of 2020. The CIBC Mellon report says Canadian equities had a first-quarter median return of […]
The U.S. Treasury Department is detailing how it plans to borrow a record-breaking $2.99 trillion in debt this quarter, which will include issuing a 20-year bond for the first time since 1986. The Treasury faces an unprecedented need for credit because of the trillions of dollars the government is spending to deal with the impact […]
China’s economy was the first to suffer the consequences of fighting the novel coronavirus and is the first on the road to recovery. If it can prevent a second wave of coronavirus cases and continue to support the small, privately owned firms that drive job creation, China’s economy could put a floor under global growth […]