The Canadian financial system showed resilience amid a volatile 2025 marked by increased economic uncertainty, according to the latest systemic risk committee report by the Canadian Securities Administrators. It found trade conflict slowed down economic activity, but economic growth exceeded earlier expectations. Indeed, Canadian investments are facing a variety of external risks impacting long-term outlooks, […]
The funded status of the 100 largest U.S. defined benefit pension plans is projected to have reached 84.7 per cent as of Nov. 30, 2025, according to a new report by Milliman Inc. It noted the last time these plans reached similar heights was in December 2021, when the funded ratio reached 85.5 per cent, […]
U.S. tariff rates, global trade relationships and growing opportunities in artificial intelligence are among the key factors impacting institutional investors in 2026, according to a new report by WTW. It found in 2025, the U.S. effective tariff rate rose dramatically, from 2.3 per cent in January to 13.5 per cent by the end of the […]
CPP Investments says it had a net return of 0.5 per cent in its third quarter for a growth rate well below its longer-term track record. The independent investment manager for the Canada Pension Plan says it ended the third quarter with $780.7 billion in net assets, up from $777.5 billion in the previous quarter. Read: CPPIB […]
After a record-setting 2024, the Canadian group annuity purchase market experienced a moderate slowdown in 2025, according to a new report by Normandin Beaudry. It found transaction volume reached nearly $6.9 billion, a decline of nearly 40 per cent compared with the $11 billion recorded last year and roughly 10 per cent below the average […]
The average Canadian defined benefit pension plan returned 0.6 per cent during the fourth quarter of 2025, down from 4.4 per cent in the previous quarter, according to a new report by the Royal Bank of Canada Investor Services. It found the average DB plan returned 7.9 per cent for the full year, down from […]
Environmental conservation can play a significant role in the evaluation of an investment asset and its future progress, according to a new study co-authored by Canada-based researchers. “Our results show that to a certain degree, [biodiversity protection] will impact the production, the size and the production of the establishment that is near a protected area,” […]
Nearly all (97 per cent) of fees paid by institutional investors go to active managers, virtually unchanged from 2023 (98 per cent), according to a new report by Callan. The report analyzed mandates run by more than 300 investment firms for nearly 180 institutional investors, representing US$784 billion in assets under management and $1.9 billion […]
With only a few weeks left in a year impacted by trade wars, equity concentration risk and the increased appeal of artificial intelligence opportunities, defined benefit plan sponsors, money managers and other investment professionals gathered at the Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria, B.C. for the Canadian Investment Review’s 2025 Investment Innovation Conference. From Nov. 19-21, […]
CPP Investments’ chief executive officer has described the organization as a supertanker, referring to scale — a portfolio approaching $800 billion — and the inability to pivot quickly due to its investments across illiquid assets. “We need to be cognizant of that,” said Derek Walker, the organization’s managing director and head of applied research and […]