The Pension Investment Association of Canada supports closely aligning the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board disclosure standards with the International Sustainability Standards Board’s requirements but recommends it only make necessary Canadian-specific modifications to the guidance. In an open letter to the CSSB, the PIAC noted alignment between financial and sustainability reporting supports “a connectivity that is essential […]
Unique natural events caused by the effects of climate change need to be considered in a financial organization’s risk analysis, according to a new report by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries. The report examined work and recommendations of the task force on climate-related financial disclosures on climate risk frameworks for the Canadian financial sector. It […]
On April 10-12, the Canadian Investment Review hosted a group of delegates, including defined benefit plan sponsors, asset managers and academics, in Alberta for the 2024 Global Investment Conference. The three-day conference kicked off with a deep dive into key geopolitical risks affecting international trade that will have reverberations in global and regional investment strategies. As well, […]
One of the many consequences of the coronavirus pandemic was an unprecedented interest in the life expectancy of Canadians. While the increased focus on life expectancy seemed to wane once the worst of the pandemic had passed, a recent report by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries on mortality improvements has brought the topic of life […]
The recent pressure put on Canadian pensions plans from private managers and governments to re-discover an investment home bias has been met with little enthusiasm, despite special interest by both federal and provincial governments to potentially tap pension fund capital for infrastructure given that current expenditure eats up a large share of the budget. Infrastructure […]
An academic says environmental, social and governance terminology should evolve alongside understanding of the concept, while a consultant favours a focus on substance over form. Amir Akbari, assistant professor of finance, McMaster University As our understanding of sustainable development evolves, so, too, should our characterization of responsible investment. For instance, consider the United Nation’s Kunming-Montreal Global […]
A growing wave of opposition to environmental, social and governance factors has turned life in the sustainable finance industry into something of a roller coaster over the last couple of years. But a little turbulence is to be expected, says Alyson Slater, managing director of sustainable investment at Manulife Investment Management, encouraging institutional investors to […]
With the introduction of new sustainability and climate disclosure guidelines — IFRS S1 and IFRS S2 — from the International Sustainability Standard Board in January, institutional investors now have the opportunity to gain alignment in measuring environmental, social and governance risks associated with their investment portfolios. Read: Research finds pensions struggle to determine metrics for ESG […]
The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario is implementing a framework with core principals to help defined benefit pension plans avoid inappropriate risk-modelling strategies, said James Hoffner, the organization’s chief pension risk officer, during a conference on Monday. “Pension plans aren’t banks, they’re not commercial enterprises that are going to go out of business. We’re not going […]
Information technology risk has become a more prevalent concern in recent years, so it comes as no surprise that Canadian pension regulators are focused on ensuring that plan administrators manage this risk effectively. IT risk is associated with an entity’s IT infrastructure as a whole, including risk caused by error or malfunction, as well as […]