In case you missed it, a recent legal opinion by pension lawyer Randy Bauslaugh suggested plan sponsors might be personally liable for failing to consider risks posed by climate change in the institutional investment decision-making process. Bauslaugh’s paper connected the dots between the current evidence on the materiality and urgency of the financial implications of climate change and the recent reflection of this […]
The Chartered Financial Analyst Institute’s draft voluntary environmental, social and governance disclosure standards are vulnerable to greenwashing, warns the Investment Funds Institute of Canada. In an open letter to the CFA regarding its drafted voluntary regulations, the IFIC is criticizing the proposed standards’ failure to define what does and doesn’t qualify as an ESG investment. […]
The Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board is entering a co-investment partnership with the Government of Singapore Investment Corp. and Boston Properties Inc. to acquire $1 billion in office properties. The CPPIB and Boston Properties will each invest $250 million in the venture, which will target offices in Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and […]
The funded position for an average Canadian defined benefit pension plan improved slightly on both a solvency and accounting basis in June, according to a new report by LifeWorks Inc. (formerly Morneau Shepell Ltd.) The average solvency ratio was 109.3 per cent in June, compared to 108.2 per cent in May. On an accounting basis, the average […]
It isn’t an easy time to be a fixed income investor. After a volatile year that included a severe liquidity squeeze in the spring of 2020, Sandra Lau, executive vice-president of fixed income at the Alberta Investment Management Corp., says many different measures now suggest the bull market for fixed income is officially over and […]
The future will increasingly favour institutional investors that can break old patterns of thought. As we move forward and industries and new technologies converge at an increasing rate, the need for a shift in mindset is imperative. One way we believe this to be possible in investing is through a multi-disciplinary approach. Read: Can machine learning […]
The Public Sector Pension Investment Board is reporting a net return of 18.4 per cent in fiscal 2021. As of March 31, 2021, the PSP had $204.5 billion in net assets under management, up 20.4 per cent from $169.8 billion at the end of the previous fiscal year. The PSP also reported a 10-year annualized […]
Representatives from eight of Canada’s largest pension funds — known as the Maple Eight — participated in the first meeting of the Sustainable Finance Action Council last week. On June 11, representatives of the Alberta Investment Management Corp., the British Columbia Investment Management Corp., the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the Canada Pension […]
As Exxon Mobil Corp. shareholders continue their bid to force the oil giant to deal more aggressively with climate change, several large U.S. institutional investors are backing a slate of alternative directors. The company announced Wednesday that three candidates nominated by a dissident group of shareholders, called Engine No. 1, had been elected to its board […]
The Desjardins Group is set to acquire Montreal-based investment firm Hexavest Inc. The deal is expected to close on Sept. 1, 2021, subject to certain conditions. Hexavest, which is based in Montreal, manages $5 billion in assets. The majority of its approximately 50 clients are institutional investors from Canada, the U.S., Australia and Asia. In […]