Don’t expect most assets to blow the doors off in the later half of the year, according to the latest investment outlook from GLC Asset Management Group Ltd. The report recommends an overall neutral stance on markets going forward in 2018, calling for one per cent total returns for fixed income and single digits for equity price […]
Extending people’s working lives could provide a windfall of more than $4.6 trillion across Organisation for Economic Co-operation member countries, according to new report by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The population of those over the age of 55 in the 35 OECD countries is on track to rise by almost 50 per cent to more than 500 million people by 2050, the report […]
Global institutional investors’ assets under management rose 7.3 per cent in 2017 to US$36.2 trillion, the largest increase in five years, according to the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum. The London, England, and Singapore-based independent think-tank’s report tracks 750 global public pension, sovereign funds and central banks, holding assets equivalent to 45 per cent of the […]
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 […]
The Canadian dollar has had its share of ups and downs over the past year or so. At the beginning of 2017, it sat at 74 cents U.S., rising to a recent high of 82 cents in September. Since then, it has fluctuated at around the 80-cent level, falling by a few cents throughout early […]
Keynote speaker Nicholas Burns kicked off this year’s Global Investment Conference with insights about the mega trends dominating the global geopolitical landscape today. Looking at the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Harvard University professor and former U.S. Under Secretary of State expressed rising concerns about the future of the agreement. “I’m worried […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec returned 9.3 per cent in 2017, an increase on its return of 7.6 per cent in 2016. While announcing the annual results on Wednesday, Michael Sabia, president and chief executive officer of the Caisse, said the portfolio reacted almost exactly as forecasted. He also highlighted the important transition period […]
Canada and the world enjoyed a particularly strong economic performance last year. In Canada, the unemployment rate fell to just 5.7 per cent at the end of December, while the World Bank estimates the global economy grew by three per cent last year. So with those positive results in mind, what should institutional investors keep […]
While the majority of global fixed-income specialists see the global economy on the road to recovery, many have a significant appetite for alternative credit, such as real estate debt and bank loans, according to a new survey by Invesco Ltd. The inaugural survey interviewed 79 global fixed-income specialists, including heads of fixed income as well as chief investment […]
Whether plan sponsors expect a bear or a bull market in 2018, if they’re in a position to de-risk their pension plan, they should do it now, according to two investment consultants who spoke at an event in Toronto on Thursday. “From our perspective, if you look at the world over the last six years, […]