Institutional investors are limiting portfolio diversification through overexposure to a selected group of U.S. technology stocks, says Alec Murray, senior vice-president and head of equity client portfolio managers at Amundi Asset Management. Since the beginning of 2023, he says, public equities have offered strong returns largely due to the performance of a concentrated group of technology […]
The Independent Electricity System Operator’s pension plan is in the midst of a comeback from a period of heightened post-coronavirus pandemic volatility, with diversification as the key to its investment roadmap, says Jeannette Briggs, the organization’s director of corporate finance who served as chair of its pension management committee from 2021 to 2023. After conducting […]
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 […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Gildan Activewear Inc. have reached an agreement that will see the Montreal-based apparel manufacturer issue $200 million in senior unsecured notes on a private placement basis to the investment organization. Gildan will issue notes with an annual interest rate of six per cent and will mature […]
Institutional investors in North America owned US$56 billion worth of exchange-traded fund assets at the end of 2023, a 22 per cent increase year over year, according to a new report by S&P Global. The report, based on financial disclosures from U.S. and Canadian pension funds, endowments and foundations and sovereign wealth funds, found the […]
Four in 10 (39 per cent) Canadian institutional investors say they have either direct or indirect exposure to cryptocurrency, according to a new survey by KPMG in Canada and the Canadian Association of Alternative Assets and Strategies. The survey, which 31 institutional investors and 34 financial services organizations, found three-quarters (75 per cent) of institutional […]
The average Canadian defined benefit pension plan posted a median return of 3.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2024, according to a new report by RBC Investor Services. The report, which tracks performance and asset allocation across Canadian DB plans, credited the positive investment return to the strong performance of equities. Read: Average […]
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is selling 2.78 per cent of its stake in India-based supply chain and logistics operator Delhivery Ltd. The total value of the deal is roughly $110 million. Following the transaction, the CPPIB still holds a 3.18 per cent stake in the firm. The transaction also appeared in block deal […]
Even though it has been two years since the U.S. Federal Reserve started rapidly hiking interest rates, hedge fund managers aren’t more likely to have a hurdle rate in place now than they were during the zero interest-rate policy era. Yet institutional investors are pushing for change. There’s a strong carry component to many hedge […]
The funded ratio of the average Canadian defined benefit pension plan, excluding the effect of asset smoothing, reached 124 per cent as at March 31, 2024, up seven per cent from the fourth quarter of 2023, according to a new report by Normandin Beaudry. It found the average solvency ratio of Canadian pension plans was […]