The value of low-carbon investments held by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has more than doubled since 2017, according to its annual sustainable investing report. In the report, the investment organization noted its low-carbon investments were worth $39 billion at the end of 2021, up from $18 billion in 2017 and $36 […]
At the beginning of 2020, the OPSEU Pension Trust upped its gold allocation to close to six per cent of its total fund after a comprehensive portfolio assessment. The decision paid off. In an environment of historically low interest rates and coronavirus-related market uncertainty, the commodity’s price skyrocketed to reach an all-time high of US$2,000 […]
While a typical Canadian defined benefit pension plan saw negative investment returns in March, it also improved on a solvency and accounting basis, according to a new report by LifeWorks Inc. Last month, the typical DB pension plan used in LifeWork’s monthly pension indices saw investments dip in value by 0.4 per cent as a […]
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is investing US$425 million in an Indian content technology platform company. Following an initial equity investment of US$50 million in VerSe Innovation Private Ltd.’s previous funding round, the CPPIB was a lead investor in the latest round with a further US$375 million. Founded in 2007, the organization operates Dailyhunt, […]
It’s a chaotic time for institutional investors. Between rising inflation and interest rates, war in Europe and an ongoing global pandemic, stock market volatility is on the rise. For those concerned about the long-term implications of these developments, here are my answers to a couple of common questions. Stock markets have risen in past interest […]
The majority of institutional investors intend to reduce their exposure to fixed income, according to a new survey by Aeon Investments. The survey, which polled European and North American pension plan sponsors and other institutional investors, found 78 per cent of respondents indicated they intend to decrease their allocations to traditional fixed income assets within […]
After navigating the unpredictable markets of the past two decades, some defined benefit pension plan sponsors could be forgiven for wanting to seek out some certainty. But a new threat has emerged in the form of rapidly rising inflation and the possibility of rate increases after decades of persistent lows. The consumer price index increased […]
The second year of the coronavirus pandemic offered defined benefit pension plan sponsors a reprieve from the chaos sown in financial markets during its first year. “A lot of pension plans ended up roughly where they started in 2020, but it was a very bumpy road,” says Gavin Benjamin, a retirement and financial solutions partner […]
Despite rising concerns about inflation and the war in Ukraine, the funded position of a typical Canadian defined benefit pension plan improved slightly on both a solvency and accounting basis in February, according to a new report by LifeWorks Inc. In February, the solvency of the average DB pension plan rose by half a per […]
In response to the ongoing war in Ukraine, more Canadian public sector institutional investors are announcing plans to exclude Russian assets from their portfolios. The Investment Management Corp. of Ontario and the Ontario Pension Board will divest their portfolios of existing Russian assets as soon as possible. Efforts to immediately divest are currently impossible as […]