Looking at the role of plan design in driving member outcomes, it comes down to data and experience, according to Margaret Rux, principal and department head of retirement plan client services at the Vanguard Group., at Benefits Canada’s 2019 DC Plan Summit in Banff, Alta. in February. Capturing data from five million members and more […]
With Brexit looming, European investor confidence dipped while North American confidence rose slightly in March compared to February, according to State Street Corp.’s latest global investor confidence survey. Globally, investor confidence rose 0.4 points to 71.3 in March. Confidence in North America rose to 68.3 from 66.2, while it declined in Europe by 7.8 points to […]
Just six per cent of Canadians cited saving for retirement as a financial priority in 2019, according to a new survey by CIBC. Paying down debt was the top financial priority for survey respondents, followed by keeping up with bills and getting by (14 per cent), growing wealth (12 per cent) and saving for a […]
Canadian taxpayers are providing $22 billion each year to the country’s public sector pension plans by assuming undisclosed investment risks, according to a new report by public policy think-tank the Fraser Institute. In the report, its author Malcolm Hamilton suggested public pension funds view the income they provide to plan members on retirement as 20 […]
The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has made two new appointments to its executive team. Gillian Brown, who joined the pension fund in 1995, is senior managing director of capital markets. Her previous roles at Ontario Teachers’ include equity trader, portfolio manager and managing director of insurance linked, credit and equity products. Read: OTPP posts 3.2% return for first […]
The National Pension Hub is awarding funding to three research projects, focusing on themes like portfolio construction and plan design. The hub, which the Global Risk Institute in Financial Services created in October 2017, is a Canadian centre for pension knowledge and research. One research project, which will be led by Stephen Bonnar, a post-doctoral fellow, and Douglas […]
There’s plenty of evidence that sustainable investing is gaining traction as an important consideration in institutional investors’ strategies and portfolios. Take, for example, the fact that the number of signatories to the United Nations’ principles for responsible investment has steadily increased; regulators in many jurisdictions have mandated that institutional investors explicitly consider their environmental, social […]
In hindsight, everybody would have invested in Apple back when it was a smaller, obscure private company. But as its founder Steve Jobs famously once said in a different context: “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.” So for investors who can stomach the risk, private companies valued […]
A conversation with Joe Overdevest, portfolio manager at Pyramis Global Advisors After six years as an analyst, Joe Overdevest became a portfolio manager in October 2008. “The first day I took over a portfolio, I had stocks down 15%,” he says. So he bought companies with strong financial positions that would withstand the changing economy, […]
Canadians are playing it safe when it comes to investing.