Defined benefit pension plans that were on route to de-risking when the coronavirus hit are facing a difficult road ahead in the current lower-for-longer interest rate environment. However, a new de-risking option is available for plan sponsors that didn’t exist in the wake of the global financial crisis: merging with the Colleges of Applied Arts […]
Annual inflation in the 19-country eurozone sagged further below zero in September, bolstering expectations that the European Central Bank will add to its emergency stimulus efforts to help cushion the impact of the pandemic on the economy. The consumer price index was down 0.3 per cent in September, even lower than the minus 0.2 per […]
For the second year in a row, Canada ranked No. 8 among developed nations for retiree well-being, according to Natixis Investment Managers’ annual global retirement index. The index, which provides an overview of the relative well-being and financial security of retirees in 44 countries, examined 18 factors across four categories: finances in retirement, material well-being, […]
Chinese government bonds are set to be included in the FTSE Russell world government bond index. The changes came off the back of the index provider’s latest country classification review, with the inclusion reflecting China’s ongoing progress toward market reforms and increased access for global investors, according to FTSE Russell. The inclusion is scheduled to […]
The Canadian Institute of Actuaries has selected FTSE Russell to represent the provincial and investment-grade corporate bond spread to be used for the CIA’s new market-based commuted-value calculation. The calculation is used to determine how much to pay a member of a registered defined benefit pension who leaves the plan and elects to receive their […]
The Canadian Institute of Actuaries has selected FTSE Russell to represent the provincial and investment-grade corporate bond spread to be used for the CIA’s new market-based commuted-value calculation. The calculation is used to determine how much to pay a member of a registered defined benefit pension who leaves the plan and elects to receive their […]
Since retirees and active plan members are fundamentally different, should their investment options reflect that distinction? That’s the question confronting defined contribution plan sponsors as they explore the relatively new world of in-plan decumulation. As of January, when the Ontario government passed a series of new regulations under the Pension Benefits Act, the majority of […]
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 […]
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 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, […]