The coronavirus pandemic is highlighting many trends in group retirement and investment programs, pushing the industry to be flexible and quick with some of the newer offerings. As plan sponsors review their group retirement plans in the coming months, they may want to consider some, or all, of these four trends. 1. Financial wellness becoming a must. […]
The Canada Climate Law Initiative is calling into question whether the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is sufficiently aligning its investments with the transition to a low-carbon economy. In a legal analysis, the organization said the pension fund’s current allocations to high-carbon assets reveal a “troubling incrementalism” within its efforts to mitigate Canadians’ exposure to […]
The Pension Investment Association of Canada is taking issue with some of the recommendations drafted by Ontario’s capital markets modernization task force, specifically those related to proxy advisory firms. In a recent letter to Walied Soliman, the chair of the task force, the PIAC disagreed with a proposal to introduce a regulatory framework for proxy advisory firms. […]
Environmental, social and governance issues are key for many Canadian pension plans, but taking meaningful action is easier said than done, especially at small and mid-sized organizations. With a team of about 30 people, the University of Toronto Asset Management Corp. managed more than $11 billion of the university’s endowment, pension plan and short-term working […]
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 […]
Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney is joining an advisory board for the Pacific Investment Management Co. PIMCO chief executive Emmanuel Roman says the California-based investment manager sought Carney for its global advisory board because of his extensive experience as an economist and central banker. The board he joins is comprised of seven members […]
A new stock exchange aimed at serving companies and investors that share a long-term vision has opened its doors. The Long-Term Stock Exchange will trade U.S. exchange-listed securities for companies that publish and maintain a series of policies designed to provide shareholders and stakeholders with insight about their long-term strategies, practices, plans and measures. “A […]
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 Palmer, a […]
The Pension Investment Association of Canada took issue with some of the recommendations drafted by Ontario’s capital markets modernization task force, specifically those related to proxy advisory firms. The task force published a series of proposals for consultation earlier this year, inviting feedback from the public. In a recent response letter to Walied Soliman, the […]
The world’s 300 largest pension funds saw their assets under management increase in value by eight per cent in 2019, to a total value of US$19.5 trillion, according to new research by Willis Towers Watson’s Thinking Ahead Institute. This is compared to a 0.4 per cent decline in the value of assets in 2018. “Overall, […]