Similar to 2022, the coming year will present both challenges and opportunities for defined benefit pension plan sponsors, with the rewards going to plan sponsors that are resilient, embrace change and are willing and able to act when opportunities arise. Several trends that will be top of mind in the year ahead are: Inflation The […]
U.S. defined contribution pension plan sponsors are increasingly offering custom target-date funds, according to a new report by the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association. The report, which analyzed 100 DC plans in both the public and private sectors, found the plan sponsors used more than 1,000 investment strategies involving custom target-date funds in 2021, up […]
The market value of assets held by Canadian trusteed pension funds decreased 5.4 per cent to $2.1 trillion in the second quarter of 2022, down from $2.21 trillion in the previous quarter, according to new data from Statistics Canada. Trusteed pension funds posted a net loss of $3.4 billion in the second quarter, compared with […]
While the vast majority (85 per cent) of institutional investors believe the economy is in a recession or will enter a recession next year, two-thirds (65 per cent) think stagflation is the bigger risk ahead, according to a survey by Natixis Investment Managers. The survey, which polled 500 institutional investors across the globe, found more than half […]
The Association of Canadian Pension Management is advising the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities to take a less prescriptive approach in its proposed guidelines on risks related to environmental, social and governance factors, cybersecurity and leverage. In an open letter to the CAPSA, the ACPM said a one-size-fits-all approach to ESG regulation could potentially […]
While defined contribution pension plans currently outnumber defined benefit pension plans, this wasn’t always the case, recalls Bita Jenab, a principal at RetirementWorks Services Inc. DC plans began to gain popularity in the mid-1980s, due to a combination of legislative and economic changes, she adds. “This period marks the introduction of pension accounting rules under […]
The vast majority (87 per cent) of 401(k) retirement plans — covering more than 90 per cent of 401(k) plan members — offer employer contributions, according to a report by BrightScope Inc. and the Investment Company Institute. The report, which analyzed 64,000 large private sector 401(k) plans, found employer contributions represented 31 per cent of […]
While publicly traded real estate investment trusts have been impacted by rising interest rates, the extent of the impact varies from market to market, said Corrado Russo, managing partner and head of global securities at Hazelview Investments, during a session at the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2022 Risk Management Conference. “It’s not shocking to see those [markets] that […]
The use of a four-state probability model can more accurately predict stock market phases and improve investment and risk management decisions, said Tom McCurdy, professor of finance and Bonham chair in international finance at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, during the Canadian Investment Review’s 2022 Risk Management Conference. The proposed model incorporates […]
Institutional investors’ best laid plans sometimes go awry — especially following global pandemics. During a presentation at the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2022 Risk Management Conference, Marc Gauthier, treasurer and chief investment officer at Concordia University, said the dramatic events shaping the world in the past two years have challenged the university’s carefully designed investment model. […]