The Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System is selling LifeLabs Inc. in a deal worth roughly $1.35 billion to U.S.-based Quest Diagnostics. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the year, said a press release. The Canadian laboratory firm will retain its brand, headquarters and management after the deal closes. “OMERS is proud […]
Amid an uncertain job market and cost-of-living worries, employers can harness the benefits of artificial intelligence to help employees with reskilling and career development, says Candy Ho, professor at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and board chair at non-profit organization CERIC. “I think we’ve got a huge opportunity ahead of us with AI and, not jobs being […]
The British Columbia Investment Management Corp. is reporting an annual return of 7.5 per cent, or $17.4 billion, as at March 31, 2024, up from 3.5 per cent the previous fiscal year, according to its latest annual report. The report, which reflects the results from the investments of its six largest pension clients — the BC Hydro Pension […]
Japan’s equity market is a growth jurisdiction once again, said Olga Bitel, partner and global strategist at William Blair, during the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2024 Global Investment Conference held in April. While this is very much early days for Japan, there are three opportunities on the horizon for its equity market: an expansion; substantial and […]
The Canadian private equity market raised $4 billion through 140 deals in the first quarter of 2024, a 52 per cent increase in deal values from the previous quarter, according to a new report by the Canadian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association. It found the average deal size in the Canadian private equity market […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is among a group of investors providing up to €750 million in financing to Vantage Data Centers. The Caisse and Ares Management are each contributing up to €300 million, while Schroders Capital’s private debt and credit alternatives team is contributing up to €150 million. The investment will […]
Institutional investors are limiting portfolio diversification through overexposure to a selected group of U.S. technology stocks, says Alec Murray, senior vice-president and head of equity client portfolio managers at Amundi Asset Management. Since the beginning of 2023, he says, public equities have offered strong returns largely due to the performance of a concentrated group of technology […]
In the fight against cybercriminals, institutional investors and other financial organizations are managing cybersecurity just as seriously as any other type of business risk, with standards that can accommodate the integration of new practices and assessment tools. “We’re finding that, pension plans included, enterprises more broadly are taking [cybersecurity] more seriously and putting in place […]
Institutional investors in North America owned US$56 billion worth of exchange-traded fund assets at the end of 2023, a 22 per cent increase year over year, according to a new report by S&P Global. The report, based on financial disclosures from U.S. and Canadian pension funds, endowments and foundations and sovereign wealth funds, found the […]
While there are multiple opportunities for the use of artificial intelligence in the employee benefits space — including making the claims process more efficient and personalizing the plan member experience — one of the biggest advantages of the technology is the ability to streamline administrative tasks, allowing employees to focus on more value-added work in […]