The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec generated average returns of negative 5.6 per cent in 2022. “The year 2022 provided an environment filled with several challenges, with spiking inflation, historic interest rate hikes by central banks and rising geopolitical tensions,” said Charles Emond, the Caisse’s president and chief executive officer, during a press briefing […]
Global pension assets fell 16.7 per cent to US$47.9 trillion in 2022, driven largely by a correction in fixed income and equities markets, according to a new report by WTW’s Thinking Ahead Institute. While the report found Canada’s pension asset values dropped by about 18 per cent in 2022, as of last August, it held roughly six […]
The Pension and Investment Association of Canada is calling on the federal government to establish a going-concern plus regime as a long-term minimum funding requirement for federally regulated defined benefit pension plans. In its pre-budget submission to Finance Canada, the PIAC said it believes the Canadian government should set a uniform funding requirement for all provinces […]
Amid the unprecedented events of the last three years, the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology pension plan has remained on course with its investment strategies, according to Asif Haque, the plan’s chief investment officer. “We held our focus on the key goal of the CAAT’s investment program. . . . The plan’s diversified asset […]
When Tye McAllister was in middle school, he received a life-changing gift from his father — The Wealthy Barber, a practical guide to financial planning by Canadian investor David Chilton. “Investing became a passion,” says McAllister, senior analyst of pension investments and treasury at ATCO Group of Companies. “I was always trying to pull together […]
Despite the challenging economic environment, Canadian defined benefit pension plans saw a median return of 4.27 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to BNY Mellon’s Canadian master trust universe. The universe, which is based on $290.3 billion worth of assets under management across 84 corporate, public and university pension plans, found the one-year median […]
The Pension Investment Association of Canada is prioritizing the protection of employment-based pension coverage in 2023. “Our members are concerned that well-intentioned regulatory changes, such as Bill C-228, may actually diminish employers’ support for pensions,” says Graeme Hay (pictured), the PIAC’s new chair and chief investment officer at Manitoba’s Teachers’ Retirement Allowances Fund, referring to a […]
In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, institutional investors are increasingly factoring geopolitical risks into portfolio construction, according to John Bai, senior vice-president and chief investment officer at NEI Investments, during a 2023 economic outlook seminar hosted by the Canadian Pension and Benefits Institute on Wednesday. “All of a sudden, geopolitical risks went from […]
An article on how British Columbia’s amended definition of provision for adverse deviation will impact the province’s target-benefit pension plans was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com over the last week. Here are the five most popular news stories of the week: 1. B.C.’s amended PfAD to provide more flexibility to target-benefit pension plans: experts 2. BNP Paribas expanding […]
The Pension Investment Association of Canada is urging the federal government to reconsider the cessation of real return bond issuances, citing potential financial impacts to defined benefit pension plans and members. In an open letter to the Ministry of Finance, the PIAC said the decision was made “without fulsome consultation or warning” and impacts pension […]