While real assets are largely absent among the investment options offered by Canadian defined contribution pension plans, they can offer significant long-term benefits to plan members, said Andrew Knox, managing director of Franklin Templeton Investments’ global real assets fund, during a session at Benefits Canada’s 2024 DC Plan Summit in February. “[Defined contribution] investors in […]
On Dec. 6, the Canadian Investment Review hosted its annual Defined Benefit Investment Forum. With the close of a year marred by financial fragility and global discontent, leaders from Canada’s defined benefit pension plan sponsor community gathered to shed light on the challenging economic landscape of 2023 and make informed predictions about the hurdles and opportunities ahead. Here’s what […]
After the simultaneous sell-off of both equities and bonds in the first half of 2022, many defined benefit pension plan sponsors were forced to “pay much more attention to the liquidity profiles of their portfolios” and manage risk by implementing a temporary policy reprieve, halting new investment activity or selling assets in the secondary market, […]
As the objectives of defined benefit pension plans have evolved, so too have institutional investors’ reasons for including fixed income allocations in a portfolio, from adding diversification and offsetting negative returns in equity to liquidity management and capital preservation, said Ashwin Gopwani, managing director and head of retirement solutions at Sun Life Capital Management, during the Canadian Investment […]
Before Janet Jule joined the Saskatchewan Healthcare Employees’ Pension Plan as its chief investment officer in 2015, the pension plan sponsor started adding a wider variety of assets to its portfolio, emphasizing diversification and lowering its dependence on equities. Indeed, like many other plan sponsors, the SHEPP’s investment strategy is increasingly incorporating more alternative asset […]
The Pension Investment Association of Canada is urging the federal government to open a comprehensive consultation regarding the cessation of real return bonds. In an open letter, the PIAC said the decision was made without extensive consultations with the primary purchasers of real return bonds, including pension investors. While real return bonds have typically exhibited a lower […]
Since defined contribution plan members will experience a wide variety of market conditions over the course of their working lives and into retirement, it’s important for the strategic asset allocation of target-date funds to be diversified and able to stand the test of time, according to Jon Knowles, institutional portfolio manager for global asset allocation at […]
Plotting out a glide path is the most important part of designing a target-date fund — not only does it take members on a roughly 40-year investing journey, but it also has the most significant impact on their retirement outcomes. Glide paths must also address the key risks facing defined contribution plan members, said Satwick […]
According to York University’s Arijit Banik, there’s only one way forward for environmental, social and governance standards: it’s time for an evolution. The treasurer responsible for overseeing the university’s endowment fund wants to go beyond simply investing in wind and solar energies to tick a box. Instead, his investment team has pushed towards sustainable infrastructure […]
The federal government’s plan to consolidate Canada mortgage bonds into the Government of Canada bond program could limit pension funds’ ability to mitigate risk through diversification, according to the Pension Investment Association of Canada. In an open letter to Finance Canada, the PIAC said the move may force institutional investors to choose between accepting lower […]