Canadian defined benefit pension plans returned a median 2.52 per cent for the fourth quarter of 2019, reflecting an improved economic outlook for investors, according to BNY Mellon Asset Management Canada Ltd. Its Canadian master trust universe, which is based on 84 Canadian corporate, public and university pension plans, reported a one-year median return of […]
Canadian defined benefit plans posted a median return of 13.6 per cent for 2019, according to Northern Trust Canada’s pension universe. North American equities led the way to double-digit returns for the year, with 1.9 per cent gains in the final quarter of the year, outpacing 1.6 per cent returns in the previous quarter. “Despite […]
Around the world, people are streamlining their everyday tasks by asking Siri or Alexa for help. And now, the chatbot concept is becoming useful in fixed income investing. AllianceBernstein has introduced a chatbot called Abbie for its professional investors to use. “We’ve integrated Abbie into all areas of our investment process to help us invest […]
Just as the outlook for the global economy had been brightening in recent months, a new threat has suddenly emerged in the form of the viral outbreak in China. That was the cautionary message that Chairman Jerome Powell delivered Wednesday after the Federal Reserve held interest rates low after its latest policy meeting. Speaking at […]
There has been a lot of buzz about negative interest rates lately, as the idea that you would have to pay governments to borrow your money seems to turn the very foundation of finance on its head. But that is exactly what is happening right now for trillions of dollars in the world’s bond markets. […]
Institutional investors have been going back and forth about whether monetary policy will provide the tailwinds to markets it did last year or whether central banks are running out of steam. Monetary policy decisions by the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and other developed market players did plenty to bolster markets in early 2019, […]
When news hit that the U.S. military had carried out an attack that killed Qasem Soleimani, the major general of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, institutional investors watched as markets saw something of a flight to safety. Gold is currently hovering near a five-year high. Brent crude spiked to close to US$71 off the back of the […]
Canada’s defined benefit pension plans increased their solvency levels in 2019 and have equity markets to thank, according to Mercer. The Mercer pension health index, which represents the solvency of a hypothetical plan, increased to 112 per cent in the final quarter of the year, up from 105 per cent at the end of the […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec’s subsidiary CDPQ Infra has concluded a work optimization agreement with NouvLR, the consortium building the Réseau express métropolitain, a rapid transit system underway in the greater Montreal area. The agreement is a response to challenges identified during the first 18 months of the project and reinforces the project’s delivery […]
The Swedish word “tack” translates to “thank you,” which is precisely what IKEA is saying to employees with its Tack! loyalty program. In Canada, the program operates as a deferred profit-sharing plan and is part of employees’ total rewards package. “The [program] was launched in 2013 based on the wish of IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad […]