As the likelihood of a new Italian coalition government continues to solidify, institutional investors are watching the country’s extremely volatile bond markets. The hard-left Five Star Movement and centre-left Democratic Party have joined forces to avoid snap elections, which would have strongly reinforced the power of Matteo Salvini, the leader of Italy’s far-right League party, says Stephane Dutu, director […]
MSCI Inc. is updating certain key indexes, with changes taking effect when the market closes on Tuesday. Stemming from MSCI’s most recent quarterly index review, the changes include increasing both Saudi Arabian stocks and China A-shares within the emerging markets index. The updates will mark the second and final step in the inclusion of the MSCI Saudi Arabia index, […]
While emerging markets have been underperforming their developed counterparts over the past decade, this may be about to change. “Basically, everything went wrong in emerging markets in the last 10 years,” said Laurence Bensafi, deputy head of emerging markets equity at RBC Global Asset Management Inc., in a webinar hosted by the Association of Canadian Pension Management […]
On Aug. 13, after Argentina’s primary elections took a different direction than markets expected, the country’s stocks suffered one of the most dramatic crashes in global history. “It was a super unusual reaction,” says Jim Barrineau, head of emerging market debt at Schroders Investment Management Ltd. He notes the market crash was especially bizarre because […]
The California State Teachers’ Retirement System says it wants to join a lawsuit seeking to change Facebook Inc.’s corporate governance practices. The pension fund said Tuesday it will ask a judge to be added to a pending lawsuit against Facebook’s leadership, which includes its chief executive officer, Mark Zuckerberg. Read: NZ pension funds pushing for change at Facebook, […]
With India attracting the attention of Canadian pension plans, what opportunities and risks exist in the country? Across all asset classes, 2018 saw US$47 billion in foreign investment transactions into India, according to Sanjeev Krishan, deals and private equity expert at PwC India, during the Canadian Investment Review’s podcast “Pension Passport.” And this year could […]
Rising with the growth of smartphones, lithium has been a hot material in the investment world for a few years. And many in the institutional investment space see exposure to lithium as a high-growth opportunity, according to Jay Jacobs, senior vice-president and head of research at Global X Funds. The metal has many uses in developing […]
Canadian defined benefit plans posted a median return of 2.5 per cent during the second quarter of 2019, according to data by Northern Trust Corp. The small gain marked the second consecutive quarter of positive growth, despite global growth concerns and worries over ongoing trade disputes contributing to equity volatility in developed markets. “In the midst of uncertainty surrounding […]
As institutional investors continue to wait for Brexit, will anything change as Boris Johnson becomes prime minister? Mere months ago, the consensus was Britain would most likely manage some kind of deal to accompany Brexit, but Johnson’s harder stance on Europe changes the rules of engagement. “Already, you’re seeing the financial impact,” says Talbot Babineau, […]
The federal government has released draft legislative proposals to implement changes to the employee stock option tax regime announced in its 2019 budget. As promised in the budget, the proposals will impose an annual cap of $200,000 on employee stock options eligible for the stock option deduction under the Income Tax Act. They also confirm that […]