Responsible investing can drive stronger risk-adjusted returns and is increasingly being seen as a tool for prudent risk management, but defined contribution plan sponsors must understand target-date fund managers’ varying approaches to implementing environmental, social and governance factors into these funds. DC plan sponsors have myriad challenges to address when considering ESG investing options, including […]
Responsible investing covers a spectrum between simple exclusion practices to environmental, social and governance integration to thematic and impact investing, said Les Marton, managing director of bfinance Canada Inc., while moderating a panel discussion at the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2022 Risk Management Conference. The two panellists — Karen Lockridge, director of ESG investing at the […]
Canada’s institutional investors have reached an inflection point on Indigenous economic reconciliation, says Joseph Bastien, project manager of the Reconciliation and Responsible Investment Initiative. “There’s a greater awareness and acceptance among institutional investors that considering these issues as an opportunity and a responsibility is important. . . . Now, we’re no longer telling them about […]
In 2016, the Calgary Foundation launched an impact investment program — one that required as much creativity as financial acumen to design. Perhaps that’s why the job fell to Lauren Frosst, director of investments at the endowment fund, which provided $66.9 million in funding to 1,100 charitable organizations last year. Beyond her experience designing a […]
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is the world’s most transparent pension fund, according to the global pension transparency benchmark, a collaboration between Top1000funds.com and CEM Benchmarking Inc. The benchmark, launched in 2021, measures the transparency of disclosures of 15 pension systems across measurements such as cost, governance, performance and responsible investing. While the rankings are […]
Canadian institutional investors are more likely (58 per cent) than their global peers (50 per cent) to view making a positive impact on society and the planet as the main reason to focus on sustainable investment outcomes, according to a new survey by Schroders. The survey, which polled 770 institutional investors around the globe, found the vast […]
The Canadian Investment Funds Standards Committee is releasing the final framework it will use to identify investment funds that disclose adopting responsible investing strategies. “Given the rapidly developing nature of global [environmental, social and governance]-related and sustainable investing frameworks, the CIFSC’s intent is not to further complicate the global or Canadian landscape but, rather, to […]
Canadian pension plans are the most transparent in the world, according to a new report by Top1000funds.com and CEM Benchmarking Inc. The report, which uses data from public disclosures of pension plans in 15 countries, also ranked the five largest pension plans in each country in terms of the transparency of performance, costs and responsible […]
The OPSEU Pension Trust is reporting a net investment return of 15.3 per cent for 2021, a result driven by strong private equity performance. In its 2021 funded status report, the OPTrust said its private equity portfolio generated a net return of 52.2 per cent. By comparison, public equities provided a net return of 12.9 […]
The Public Sector Pension Investment Board is publishing a green bond framework, which is aligned with existing standards in green bond and sustainable debt markets. Green bonds will provide a new tool in PSP Investments’ toolkit to support strong financial performance and responsible investment outcomes, noted a press release. It also said the framework will […]