Canada’s defined benefit pension plans saw continued improvements in their solvency positions during the second quarter of 2018, according to Mercer’s latest pension health index. Representing the solvency of a hypothetical plan, the index stood at 107 per cent as of June 29, 2018, up one percentage point from the end of the first quarter. […]
The Nova Scotia Public Service Superannuation Plan achieved a return of 5.5 per cent, net of fees, for its 2017/18 fiscal year, according to its latest annual report. In dollar terms, the plan generated $343 million in total investment income, bringing the plan’s total net assets to $6.4 billion at March 31, 2018. During the last […]
Vestcor Investment Management Corp. posted an eight per cent return on total assets under active management in 2017, up from 6.2 cent the year before. Formerly the New Brunswick Investment Management Corp., Vestcor provides administration services for 11 public sector pension plans, as well as global investment management services to nine public sector clients with […]
Lower bond yields and mixed markets drove down the median solvency ratio of Canadian defined benefit plans in May, according to Aon’s monthly survey. On June 1, 2018, the median solvency ratio stood at 100 per cent, a drop of 1.7 percentage points since the end of April. Half (51 per cent) of the plans surveyed were […]
Institutional investors are keeping an eye on the political instability in Italy as premier-designate Carlo Cottarelli prepares to present his ministerial picks and the market opened down 1.8 per cent on Tuesday. Last week, Italy’s president Sergio Mattarella invited the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and the League, formerly known as the Northern League, to form a coalition […]
With annuities largely comprised of fixed-income investments, can the sponsors of pension plans gain an advantage by replicating such a portfolio on their own with a focus on private debt? During a presentation for plan sponsors in Toronto on Thursday, Michael Augustine, a managing director at TD Asset Management Inc., touted the option of reducing […]
The funded status of the Segal Group Inc.’s model multi-employer pension plan dipped to 98 per cent during the first quarter of 2018, down from 101 per cent in the third quarter of 2017, according to a new report. Canadian equities took the lead in dragging the fund lower, partially due to its higher weighting […]
Canadian institutional investors that use exchange-traded funds allocate an average 18.8 per cent of total assets to them, according to research by Greenwich Associates. The research, which interviewed 52 global institutional investors, found that the primary driver behind the increased use of ETFs for Canadians is their versatility. Some 70 per cent of participants characterized their ETF […]
As inflation is back on institutional investors’ minds, some are eyeing an allocation to gold, both directly and through companies with exposure to the metal, according to one investment manager. “We’re actively having a lot of conversations right now with institutions,” says John Ciampaglia, chief executive officer of Sprott Inc. “What we’re finding is a lot more reception […]
Canadian defined benefit pension plans held steady in positive territory in the first quarter of 2018 with returns of 0.2 per cent, according to RBC Investor and Treasury Services. That’s down, however, from returns of 2.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2017 and 4.4 per cent in the final quarter of last year. Canadian equities took […]