Six months into a war that has killed thousands of Ukrainians and displaced more than 12 million more, most of the pledges by U.S. pension funds, university endowments and other public sector holdings to drop Russian investments have gone unfulfilled, according to an Associated Press review, state retirement administrators and firms that invest state funds. […]
An article on the Royal Bank of Canada’s plans for returning employees to the office was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com over the last week. Here are the five most popular news stories of the week: 1. RBC employees returning to in-office working to foster creativity, collaboration 2. CPPIB backing of grain exporter provides Russia propaganda victory: expert […]
While institutional investors are no strangers to established markets such as Europe and the U.S., the world’s emerging and frontier markets can provide diversification and opportunities for lucrative returns. Not surprisingly, events such as the coronavirus pandemic and a shifting geopolitical landscape are influencing these decisions in 2022 and beyond. In recent months, Russia’s invasion […]
In 2016, the Calgary Foundation launched an impact investment program — one that required as much creativity as financial acumen to design. Perhaps that’s why the job fell to Lauren Frosst, director of investments at the endowment fund, which provided $66.9 million in funding to 1,100 charitable organizations last year. Beyond her experience designing a […]
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is the world’s most transparent pension fund, according to the global pension transparency benchmark, a collaboration between Top1000funds.com and CEM Benchmarking Inc. The benchmark, launched in 2021, measures the transparency of disclosures of 15 pension systems across measurements such as cost, governance, performance and responsible investing. While the rankings are […]
The U.K. government is proposing new rules requiring defined benefit pension plan sponsors to provide regulators with a summary of their investment strategies. Under the proposed rules, which were announced by the Department of Pensions and Welfare, DB plans would have to submit long-term funding and investment strategies to the U.K.’s pension regulator. The rules would […]
An article about Hootsuite providing employees with an extra week off this summer was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com over the last week. Here are the five most popular news stories of the week: 1. Hootsuite giving employees additional week off to support mental health, work-life balance 2. Younger employees more likely to switch jobs for better benefits: […]
The Canadian Investment Funds Standards Committee is releasing the final framework it will use to identify investment funds that disclose adopting responsible investing strategies. “Given the rapidly developing nature of global [environmental, social and governance]-related and sustainable investing frameworks, the CIFSC’s intent is not to further complicate the global or Canadian landscape but, rather, to […]
The pension plan for the faculty and staff of the University of Toronto grew from $6.3 billion to $6.6 billion in the first six months of 2021. For the second half of the year, the assets were officially in the custody of the University Pension Plan, though the day-to-day management of portfolios remained UTAM’s responsibility well into […]
Despite year-to-date asset losses and historically high levels of inflation, most Canadian defined benefit pension plans are reporting increased funded positions in the second quarter of 2022, according to a report by Mercer Canada. It found the median solvency ratio increased from 108 per cent as at March 31 to 109 per cent as at […]