The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is gaining a minority stake in a new financial entity resulting from a merger between Fairstone Bank of Canada and Home Trust Company. The new group will have a national branch and broker network to offer residential and commercial mortgages, personal loans, credit cards, retail financing, auto financing, digital lending […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is investing $200 million in a Swedish company developing and manufacturing lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. The new funding, via convertible debt, will help finance the development of a planned multi-billion dollar EV battery plant in Quebec. In August, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the Investment Management […]
While the Nova Scotia Pension Services Corp. isn’t currently invested in frontier markets, the institutional investor is set to take its first steps towards investing in the sector. “Step one is getting [the board] more comfortable with frontier markets,” says Steve Mahoney, the organization’s chief investment officer, which includes the N.S. Teachers’ Pension Plan, the […]
Canadian institutional investors are optimistic about the prospects of emerging markets bonds, with more than half (52 per cent) saying they’re likely to increase their exposure over the next two years, according to a new survey by Vontobel Asset Management Inc. The survey, which polled more than 200 global institutional investors across Asia-Pacific, Europe and […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is appointing Maxime Aucoin as executive vice-president of depositors and total portfolio. In the new role, Aucoin, who’s currently responsible for portfolio construction, asset allocation and currency management, will also be responsible for economic and financial analysis, global strategy and depositor advisory services. With 10 years of […]
The strength of the U.S. dollar and the ongoing war in Europe will hamper North American and other global institutional investors in 2023, though some will still find value in other continents, according to a new report from the Capital Group Inc. “Even if you think economies outside Canada and the U.S. are headed for […]
Consensus expectations for U.S. inflation and interest rates in 2023 are overly optimistic, said Robert Forsyth, head of SPDR exchange-traded funds strategy and research at State Street Global Advisors SPDR, during a session at the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2022 Defined Benefit Investment Forum. “Our view is that the futures market is still pricing in an […]
Canadian institutional investors should have a strategic allocation to emerging market debt, Ward Brown, fixed income portfolio manager at MFS Investment Management, explained during his session. EM debt has two of the key characteristics needed for a strategic allocation. First, it is a good diversifier because it has low correlations with other assets commonly found […]
This year has been a difficult one for emerging market currencies, but there are signs that 2022 will give investors reason to be optimistic. “For the first time in 20 years, U.S. growth is outperforming EM growth,” said Fernando Grisales, senior emerging market portfolio manager at Schroders, during his presentation at the 2021 Global Investment […]
As places of economic activity, flood plains have their advantages — just ask the ancient Mesopotamians or the staff of the Winnipeg-based Teachers’ Retirement Allowance Fund. “Those of you who have been to our offices will know we’re right at the intersection of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. We are right in the flood plain […]