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Sustainability in a post-coronavirus world

mschmit — Mon, 30 Nov 2020 08:43:59 +0000

People are increasingly viewing the world with a lens that incorporates environmental, social and governance factors, said Andrew Parry, head of sustainable investment at Newton Investment Management, when speaking at the Canadian Investment Review’s Investment Innovation Conference in November. Climate change is a prominent issue with extreme weather events becoming the normal, he said, noting […]

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FTSE Russell set to add Chinese government bonds to world government bond index

mschmit — Fri, 25 Sep 2020 07:54:32 +0000

Chinese government bonds are set to be included in the FTSE Russell world government bond index. The changes came off the back of the index provider’s latest country classification review, with the inclusion reflecting China’s ongoing progress toward market reforms and increased access for global investors, according to FTSE Russell. The inclusion is scheduled to […]

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Canadian pension portfolio exposure to China inching higher

mschmit — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 04:55:17 +0000

The rallying cry that China is simply too significant a part of the world’s economy to leave out of a well-diversified portfolio is about to be last year’s cliché. For the moment, the country remains the second largest economic engine in the world, but its stunning growth in just the past few years has investors […]

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Is it time for pension plans to do away with absolute return benchmarks in infrastructure?

mschmit — Fri, 10 Jul 2020 04:00:55 +0000

For years, institutional investors have used absolute return or cash-plus benchmarks to measure infrastructure performance, but it’s time to put these in the past and adopt market-relevant benchmarks based on fair value and representative data, according a new paper by the EDHEC Infrastructure Institute. “From the viewpoint of the state of the art in financial […]

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What can institutional investors learn from coronavirus crisis?

mschmit — Wed, 27 May 2020 04:41:27 +0000

As investors begin to digest the extended ramifications of the coronavirus pandemic, certain investment lessons are emerging. For one, investing globally provided diversification opportunities as different regions were impacted by the spread of the virus in different ways, according to a new paper from MSCI Inc. “The coronavirus pandemic started in Asia and gradually spread […]

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MSCI releases new indexes focused on disruptive innovations

mschmit — Tue, 19 May 2020 03:10:49 +0000

The MSCI Inc. is launching a new set of indexes focusing on disruptive innovation, building on the index provider’s megatrend index suite. The new indexes will focus on companies in fields like autonomous technologies, genomics, fintech and next generation internet. The new indexes will use insights from ARK Investment Management, a firm specializing in analyzing […]

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Coronavirus casting light on different ESG issues

mschmit — Tue, 28 Apr 2020 05:45:01 +0000

The coronavirus pandemic is hastening certain trends that institutional investors incorporating environmental, social and governance issues have been eyeing for some time. One trend is the democratization of technology, which Catherine Flockhart, a director at Baillie Gifford, says her firm has been positioned for in certain strategies. While many point to the sudden increase in […]

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BBB-rated corporate bonds representing larger part of Canadian market

mschmit — Wed, 26 Feb 2020 02:37:25 +0000

BBB-rated corporate bonds are becoming a bigger part of the Canadian market, according to an analysis by FTSE Russell. In particular, at the end of January 2020, the FTSE Canada one- to 10-year corporate BBB bond index had 326 issuers, representing $141.1 million in market cap, which translates to 29 per cent of the FTSE […]

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$100M judgment against Bell may signal uptick in pension indexing litigation

mschmit — Mon, 24 Feb 2020 05:20:15 +0000

The Ontario Court of Appeal has ruled that Bell and its related companies, including Bell Canada, Bell Media Inc., Expertech Network Installation Inc. and Bell Mobility Inc., have been miscalculating the cost-of-living adjustment due to their 35,000 pensioners since 2017. The judgment could cost the telecommunications company up to $100 million and signal the beginning of […]

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FTSE Russell expands climate risk-adjusted government bond index series

mschmit — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 04:33:04 +0000

Index-provider FTSE Russell is launching the first government bond index of countries in the economic and monetary union of the European Union that adjusts country weights based on climate risk. The index provides a forward-looking assessment of these countries’ climate risks, such as the expected economic impact of transitioning to Paris Accord target greenhouse gas […]

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