Bâtirente’s diversified funds lost between 5.7 per cent and 8.6 per cent in 2022 as a result of tumultuous conditions in the global economy, according to its latest results. “Global inflation reached a 40-year high due to several factors, such as the war in Ukraine, the persisting [coronavirus] pandemic, the world’s supply chain failures and […]
Marlene Puffer, chief investment officer of the Alberta Investment Management Corp., believes many public market asset classes are under-priced as a result of inflation and interest rate hikes in 2022. “The persistent rise in inflation caught many central banks off guard, forcing them to undertake the most aggressive interest rate hiking cycle seen in decades,” […]
The median Canadian defined benefit pension plan returned 2.8 per cent during the last quarter of 2022 after facing losses of 12.8 per cent over the course of the year, according to a new report by Northern Trust Canada. The report draws from the Northern Trust Canada universe, which tracks the performance of Canadian DB plans. […]
Emerging market economies with strong domestic structural growth stories are likely to thrive in the next 10 years, said Alexis Freyeisen, investment strategist for emerging markets equities at AllianceBernstein, during a session at the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2022 Investment Innovation Conference. “There is a lot of negative press around EM and the media likes to […]
The average Canadian defined benefit pension plan lost ground on a solvency and accountancy basis in December, according to LifeWorks Inc.’s latest monthly report. At the end of 2022, the solvency index reached 103.8 per cent, down 3.1 per cent from the end of November. The balance sheet index also fell 2.4 per cent — […]
The strength of the U.S. dollar and the ongoing war in Europe will hamper North American and other global institutional investors in 2023, though some will still find value in other continents, according to a new report from the Capital Group Inc. “Even if you think economies outside Canada and the U.S. are headed for […]
A bill intended to provide defined benefit pension plan members with super-priority should be a major concern for Canadian DB plan sponsors, according to LifeWorks Inc.’s latest monthly pension indices report. “While the goal of [Bill C-228] is to protect the pensions of members and retirees in the event of a company’s insolvency, it could […]
Reports that a leading asset manager is delaying the launch of a Chinese bond fund indefinitely are a clear sign that the facade around Chinese stocks’ and bonds’ environmental, social and governance record may be lifting. In recent years, rising investment in Chinese stocks and bonds coincided with a boom in ESG investing. Of course, […]
Nine Canadian public sector pension plans are passively invested in companies with evidenced involvement in the persecution of Uyghurs in China, according to a new report by U.K. think tank Hong Kong Watch. The report includes three federal and six provincial pension investment organizations — among more than 30 global institutional investors — as passive investors […]
Canada’s defined benefit pension plans improved on both a solvency basis and an accounting basis in October, according to a new report by LifeWorks Inc. The monthly pension indices report found the average Canadian DB pension plan saw its solvency ratio rise to 103.2 per cent, up 3.1 per cent from the previous month. On […]