The average Canadian defined benefit pension plan generated a median return of 8.4 per cent for the fourth quarter of 2023, according to a report by Northern Trust Corp. The report, which tracks DB plans within the Northern Trust Canada universe, found the average Canadian DB plan ended the year with a median 10 per cent return. […]
An article on the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association’s priorities for the coming year was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com this past week. Here are the top five human resources, benefits, pension and investment stories of the week: 1. CLHIA focusing on improving pharmacare, rare disease drug coverage in 2024 2. Majority of Canadian employers expecting […]
The average Canadian defined benefit pension plan posted returns of 8.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to RBC Investor Services. It found the average Canadian DB plan ended 2023 with a 9.1 per cent return, a significant increase from negative 10.3 per cent in 2022. Read: Average Canadian DB pension plan returns […]
Institutional investors could face a mild economic recession in the U.S. at the end of the first half of 2024, according to a new report from Amundi Asset Management. It projected the global economy to grow by 2.4 per cent in 2024, with U.S. growth estimated at just 0.8 per cent, down from 2.4 per […]
After the simultaneous sell-off of both equities and bonds in the first half of 2022, many defined benefit pension plan sponsors were forced to “pay much more attention to the liquidity profiles of their portfolios” and manage risk by implementing a temporary policy reprieve, halting new investment activity or selling assets in the secondary market, […]
The era of predictable monetary policy and global co-operation is over. In this new epoch, defined by sweeping government intervention, geopolitical realignment and environmental catastrophe, new ideas must be embraced. At the 2023 Investment Innovation Conference at the Rancho Bernardo Inn in San Diego, Calif. on Nov. 15-17, leading academics and industry figures provided expert summaries […]
Over the last year, the volatile interest rate period has increased demand for fixed income exchange-traded funds among institutional investors, said Robert Forsyth, head of SPDR ETF strategy and research at State Street Global Advisors, during the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2023 Investment Innovation Conference in November. “Institutional investors were using ETFs to gain really quick access […]
Institutional investors are preparing for a bumpy return risk space where volatility is higher for all assets and real returns are much lower than what has been the norm over the past 10 years, said Robertas Stancikas, a senior research associate of institutional solutions at AllianceBernstein, during the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2023 Investment Innovation Conference in […]
Despite pension funds navigating a “swim-at-your-own-risk” environment with a lower probability of positive returns, they can’t just stop and sink — they have to keep swimming, said Karin Sullivan, vice-president of fixed income at Trans-Canada Capital Inc., during the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2023 Investment Innovation Conference in November. “[These financial challenges] have been going on now for two […]
To find opportunity in times of volatility, institutional investors must consider their objectives and then expand their toolkit, said Saurabh Sud, a portfolio manager at T. Rowe Price, during the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2023 Investment Innovation Conference in November. It’s been a challenging environment for most fixed-rate assets with surging yields and higher volatility. As a […]