Statistics Canada says Canadians’ buying patterns changed so much during the coronavirus pandemic that its measure of consumer inflation went a little wobbly. The agency previously reported that year-over-year inflation declined by 0.2 per cent in April, then took a further drop of 0.4 per cent in May as lockdowns put a damper on consumer […]
The coronavirus pandemic will leave some long-term economic damage that will only become clearer as the country moves further along a “prolonged and bumpy” course to recovery, Canada’s top central banker says. In his first speech as governor, Tiff Macklem said the central bank expects to see growth in the third quarter of this year […]
Canadian institutional investors are operating in a landscape that has changed dramatically since the initial market and policy reactions to the coronavirus pandemic. “A lot has changed over the last five to six months,” said Michael Sager, vice-president and client portfolio manager for multi-asset and currency management at CIBC Asset Management Inc., during a webinar hosted […]
Canada’s new top central banker says the Bank of Canada has no intention to raise interest rates given the current economic circumstances created by the coronavirus pandemic. Governor Tiff Macklem says the central bank is focused on delivering low interest rates for the foreseeable future to support an economic recovery. That should also help lower […]
With so much uncertainty on the horizon, should pension plan sponsors be preparing to operate in a deflationary or inflationary environment? In the short term, the economic environment will be deflationary, says Hugh O’Reilly, executive in residence at the Global Risk Institute, noting demand is down because people are staying home and not spending. “And […]
Canada’s inflation rate turned negative in April as the economy came to a standstill in the first full month of the pandemic as part of a spending shift that a top central banker says may signal further changes in consumption patterns post-COVID-19. Statistics Canada said Wednesday the consumer price index for April fell 0.2 per […]
Tiff Macklem, a former second-in-command at the Bank of Canada, is returning to the central bank to take over the top job at a moment that he says cries out for bold, unprecedented responses to the economic crisis fuelled by the coronavirus. And he suggested that once the current crisis passes, a key focus for […]
The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System sponsors corporation board is considering two plan design changes: the introduction of shared-risk indexing and the expansion of pension coverage to non full-time workers. On the shared-risk indexing front, the sponsors corporation board is looking at potentially reducing future inflation increases on benefits earned after Dec. 31, 2022. As […]
The novel coronavirus has brought with it an unprecedented shuttering of the global economy and an equally unprecedented policy response. The speed and scale at which central bankers and politicians have moved has already surpassed anything seen during the credit crisis. On the monetary policy front, we have seen rates cut to zero, the announcement […]
Stock picking with the right process and the right temperament works. And, contrary to popular claims, value investing is not dead. Those who claim it is dead, substantiate this by providing evidence that picking cheap stocks, meaning stocks with low price-to-earnings or price-to-book ratios, has been ineffective since the onset of the great recession. What […]