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 […]
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 […]
The Canadian Institute of Actuaries is urging the federal government to reconsider its cessation of real return bond issuances, citing the potential financial impacts to defined benefit pension plans. “We request not only that the decision to cease issuing real return bonds be reconsidered, but also that the annual issuance of real return bonds be […]
Alongside a potential recession and lower global economic growth looming in 2023, defined benefit pension plan sponsors have several tools to minimize the impact of rising inflation, said Eric Menzer, senior portfolio manager and global head of outsourced chief investment officer and fiduciary solutions and multi-asset solutions at Manulife Investment Management, during a session at […]
Canada’s Maple 8 — the country’s largest eight public pension plans that manage a total of about $2 trillion in assets — use similar governance structures to consistently deliver strong returns. Pension systems around the world are difficult to manage, said Sebastien Betermier, an associate professor of finance at the Desautels Faculty of Management at […]
In the early days of 2020, no one could have foreseen the social and economic havoc the coronavirus pandemic would wreak on the world. Nearly two years later, as markets and economies continue to recover, Canadian pension plan sponsors are looking to their money managers to help light the way to a brighter financial future. […]
When the coronavirus pushed equity markets off a cliff, Canadian defined benefit pension plans had to mobilize to address a number of concerns. The Canadian National Railway Co. pension recently shifted towards a more defensive investment strategy, said Marlene Puffer, president and chief executive officer for the CN investment division of the company, at a […]
The top three extreme risks for investors to watch are global temperature change, global trade collapse and cyber warfare, according to a new report by Willis Towers Watson’s Thinking Ahead Institute. In the report, extreme risks are considered events that are highly unlikely to occur — but could have a large impact on economic growth […]