The value of the total assets under management for the world’s 500 largest asset managers reached US$113.7 trillion as of Dec. 31, 2022, down 13.7 per cent from the previous year, according to a new report by WTW’s Thinking Ahead Institute. In a press release, Jessica Gao, director of the Thinking Ahead Institute, said asset […]
The average Canadian defined benefit pension plan returned negative four per cent in the third quarter of 2023, according to two new reports. The RBC Investor and Treasury Services’ universe, which tracks performance and asset allocation across Canadian DB plans, found the most recent quarterly losses mean the average return has decreased to 1.9 per cent […]
The Bank of Canada held its key interest rate steady at five per cent, but hasn’t ruled out future rate hikes as price pressures remain high. “With clearer signs that monetary policy is moderating spending and relieving price pressures, governing council decided to hold the policy rate at five per cent,” said the Bank of […]
Despite an attractive pitch to asset owners, concentrated equity strategies may be letting investors down, according to Seth Weingram, senior vice-president and director of client advisory at Acadian Asset Management, speaking at the Canadian Investment Review’s 2023 Risk Management Conference. “We’re thinking about a discretionary sort of stock-picking context, where you’ve got an individual manager who has […]
A tight labour market will have to loosen up in order to help reduce inflation rates, said Ilan Kolet, institutional portfolio manager at Fidelity Investments, during the Canadian Investment Review’s 2023 Risk Management Conference. In 2022, inflation severely impacted the dynamic between stocks and bonds leading to a painful year, he said. “[Inflation] increases the correlation between […]
A centralized trading approach forms the backbone of the recently revamped British Columbia Investment Management Corp., offering a more protective process for its stakeholders, according to Carmen Firmani, senior manager of client relations at the BCI, speaking during the Canadian Investment Review’s 2023 Risk Management Conference. She detailed the BCI’s transformation from a passive to a […]
The funded position of a typical Canadian defined benefit pension plan increased on a solvency and an accounting basis as of Sept. 30, according to a new report by Telus Health. The monthly index, which demonstrates changes in asset levels for an average pension plan since the beginning of the year, found the average solvency […]
About a third (34 per cent) of the companies on the S&P/TSX composite index are meeting the reporting requirements for environmental, social and governance standards by disclosing the metrics of all of their sustainability related risks and opportunities, according to a new report by consultancy Millani. The report, which reviewed ESG standards in Canadian public companies, […]
Canadian institutional investors are still in a sweet spot with the relationship between stocks and bonds in 2023, despite a difficult start to October for the S&P/TSX composite index, says one expert. At the end of last week’s trading period, the Canadian equities index showed a negative return of 0.72 per cent, leaving the S&P/TSX […]
More than half of global institutional investors are worried about the ongoing effects geopolitical risk (55 per cent) and rising inflation (53 per cent) will have on their portfolios, according to a new survey by Schroders. The survey, which polled 770 global institutional investors representing US$34.7 trillion in assets, found that, in order to combat geopolitical risk, respondents […]