Vestcor Inc. is reporting a net investment return of 8.67 per cent for 2025. In its annual investment performance report, the New Brunswick-based investment manager said its assets under management grew by $1.3 billion to $24.4 billion, adding $165 million in value above investment benchmarks for clients. Read: Vestcor returns 12.2% in 2024, net assets increase […]
In uncertain times, asset owners may not necessarily be looking for new allocation opportunities from investment managers, says Jahangir Aka, founder of Aka & Associates. He says when asset owners experience geopolitical shocks, these institutional investors would first inspect their portfolios’ resilience. “They need to go and figure out what cracks there are in the […]
The equity risk in target-date funds has been increasing substantially over the last decade, creating a ‘silent risk shift,’ according to Jafer Naqvi, managing director and head of client portfolio management at TD Asset Management Inc., speaking during a session at Benefits Canada’s 2026 Defined Contribution Plan Summit. At the same time, the underlying stock indices […]
Canada and China are on a pragmatic path to establish an updated working relationship that could include private capital investments, says Jia Wang, senior fellow at the University of Alberta’s China Institute and a senior fellow at the Asia Pacific Foundation. Last week, Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne held several meetings with Chinese officials in […]
The median solvency ratio among Canadian defined benefit pension plans was 123 per cent as of March 31, according to a new report by Mercer Canada. It attributed the finding to recent valuation results, along with the use of contribution holidays by employers. Compared to the end of 2025, market fluctuations didn’t impact the decrease […]
Major Canadian banks and pension funds provided tens of billions of dollars to American contractors for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, an investigation by the non-profit Stand.earth has found. The group’s analysis of loan and share data found Canadian financial institutions backed multiple companies that have major contracts with ICE to provide equipment […]
The funded status of a typical defined benefit pension plan increased on a solvency basis but decreased on an accounting basis in January, according to a new report by Telus Health. The monthly pension index found the typical DB plan increased from 100 per cent on Jan. 1 to 101.7 per cent on Jan. 31 […]
Increased dispersion and fragmentation in the global economy is creating opportunities for institutional investors in 2026, according to a new report by the International Forum of Sovereign Wealth Funds. The report, which collected responses from long-term institutional investors representing more than $53.8 trillion in assets under custody at State Street Corp., found investors are more […]
A return to pragmatism created a rebounding effect for Canadian equities in 2025, says Jesse Forster, senior analyst in market structure and technology at Crisil Coalition Greenwich. In preparing a report summarizing the performance of the Canadian markets in 2025, Forster says he found support for organic growth in equities thanks to maintenance flow and […]
The universe of defined benefit pension managers’ pooled funds posted a median return of 1.5 per cent before management fees in the fourth quarter of 2025 and 11.8 per cent for the full year, according to a new report by Telus Health. Major stock market indices provided strong performances in Q4 even though the macro […]