An article on International Business Machines Corp.’s latest pension risk transfer was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com this past week. Here are the top five human resources, benefits, pension and investment stories of the last week: 1. IBM transferring US$6 billion in pension liabilities via group annuity buyout 2. How employers can encourage employees to take guilt-free sick days […]
An acceleration of significant weather events are impacting the risk premium earned from insurance-linked securities, providing a significant inflation hedge for institutional investors, says Bernard Van der Stichele, senior portfolio manager of insurance-linked securities at the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan. “ILS investments earn a risk premium that is directly proportional to the level of risk […]
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is selling its stake in a U.K. wireless utilities provider. Through the deal reached with Digital 9 Infrastructure, an investment fund from Triple Point Investment Management, the investment organization will receive $585 million for its stake in the Arqiva Group Ltd. The transaction, which is subject to customary conditions […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is investing in a Canadian mortgage broker. The investment in M3 Financial Group will allow the organization to continue its strategic growth plan around acquisitions and help expand its digital footprint, according to a press release, which noted the mortgage broker most recently acquired Pinch Financial, a technology […]
As institutional investors seek portfolio diversification and the insurance industry seeks additional capacity amid global growth, investment strategies incorporating insurance-linked securities are providing a solution for both parties. Insurance-linked securities allow insurers to transfer some of their risk to investors. For example, in the case of catastrophe bonds, the issuer pays a coupon to an […]
In a market rocked by a considerable increase in cross-asset volatility, the need to search for alternative means of diversification that embrace different sources of risk and return is crucial. One solution for pension plan sponsors to consider is investing in insurance-linked securities. Often a misunderstood and underutilized asset class, insurance-linked securities are investments whose […]
The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan is well-known for its liability-driven investing strategy, which helped it successfully weather the 2008 financial crisis. During the coronavirus fallout, in an era of historically low interest rates, the HOOPP is working on developing LDI 2.0. “We’re very focused on liabilities, but what you do when interest rates are […]
The outbreak of the novel coronavirus has triggered major corrections in the equity, commodity and debt markets as participants try to gauge the full extent of its impact. It is times like these when the advantages of insurance-linked securities become apparent again. Insurance-linked securities are financial instruments whose performance is driven by the occurrence of […]
The reinsurance market delivers steady income in tough times.