Teachers' economist on the coming supply-demand imbalance.
Coverage of the 2013 Risk Management Conference.
Ambachtsheer's proposed retirement income fix.
More than 80% of institutional investors expect risk management to play an even greater role in the investment decision process in the future.
With 2013 well and truly over, a number of us begin to prepare for committee meetings—if they haven’t already been held—to discuss performance. Supported by extremely strong equity market returns during 2013, the average Canadian DB pension plan earned in excess of 14%. In combination with the increase in bond yields over the course of the year, this has many Canadian pension plans approaching funding levels not seen since before the financial crisis began. Suffice it to say, these will be pleasant meetings.
A report by Alberta's auditor general finds that while public sector pension plan boards have implemented risk management systems, there's no clear responsibility for coordinating and managing risk.
Is that light we see at the end of the tunnel? It certainly could be—Canadian DB pension plans ended 2013 in the best shape they’ve been in for over a decade according to the Mercer Pension Health Index. And the median solvency ratio is also on the rise, up to 93.4% at the end of 2013—an impressive 24.8 points higher than it was a year ago according to Aon Hewitt.
Why we can't just divest climate change away.
New paper shows the future of public markets depends on large asset owners.
Our blogger asks whether gold equities are a good proxy for gold.