After a week that saw coronavirus worries wallop equity markets into correction territory, the U.S. Federal Reserve announced a 0.5 per cent rate cut on Tuesday morning. Following suit, the Bank of Canada cut its target for the overnight rate by 50 basis points on Wednesday, bringing it to 1.25 per cent. For the Fed, […]
Close to a quarter (23 per cent) of institutional investors said they plan to reduce their cash balances, according to a new survey by BlackRock Inc. For fresh allocations, private markets remain the favourite by a wide margin. Indeed, more than half (55 per cent) of investors said they intend to up allocations to real […]
The funded status of Segal Group Inc.’s model multi-employer pension plan increased three per cent in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to a new report by the actuarial firm. During the quarter, the funded status of the hypothetical plan rose from 92 per cent to 95 per cent. However, this compares to 98 per cent during […]
BBB-rated corporate bonds are becoming a bigger part of the Canadian market, according to an analysis by FTSE Russell. In particular, at the end of January 2020, the FTSE Canada one- to 10-year corporate BBB bond index had 326 issuers, representing $141.1 million in market cap, which translates to 29 per cent of the FTSE […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is closing a $125 million financing deal with Canadian credit union, Meridian. The investment takes the form of subordinated private debt, with the capital aimed at helping Meridian continue its growth and the diversification of its products and services. Today, Meridian offers both commercial and personal loans, […]
The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System posted an 11.9 per cent return for 2019. The net return added $11.5 billion in value to the pension fund, pushing its funded status on a smoothed basis to 97 per cent. The double-digit returns neatly beat the OMERS overall benchmark of 7.5 per cent. “The story in 2019 is that there was […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec posted a 10.4 per cent return for 2019, well surpassing its 2018 annual return of 4.2 per cent. The jump represents $31.1 billion in gains for the fund, putting its net assets at $340.1 billion. “The portfolio delivered the returns we were expecting in a context where the market really took […]
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board generated a net income of $14.5 billion for its third fiscal quarter, rounding out a 7.1 per cent return for the nine months of its fiscal year so far. With $3.6 billion in net Canada Pension Plan outflows for the quarter, which ended Dec. 31, 2019, the fund saw a total […]
Canadian defined benefit pension plans posted a return of 14 per cent in 2019, according to the RBC Investor and Treasury Services’ universe. These double-digit returns were the second highest for DB plans in the past decade, bolstered by a surge in equity markets both domestically and around the world. “Over the past 10 years, […]
Green, social and sustainability bond issuance is set to jump by 24 per cent in 2020, according to new data from Moody’s Investor Service Inc. Moody’s is predicting issuances will climb to US$400 billion by the end of the year, up from US$323 billion in 2019. More specifically, the research anticipates green bond issuance will […]