Despite several bumps in the decade since the 2008/09 financial crisis, the swift and brutal crash in global equity prices when the coronavirus was declared a pandemic sent pension investors reaching for their playbooks to implement defensive strategies to mitigate the damage. “People have worked very hard at just acting on the set strategies that […]
Despite the low interest rate environment, it still makes sense for defined benefit pension plan sponsors to adopt a liability-driven investment strategy, said Serge Lapierre, global head of LDI at Manulife Investment Management, during a webinar sponsored by the firm on Monday. LDI investing is a risk management framework, he noted. “It’s not an asset […]
Whether Joe Biden or Donald Trump ultimately wins the White House, the stock market is already a clear winner this week. While there were fears that a longer than usual wait to determine the winner of the U.S. presidential race would lead to wild market volatility, that didn’t come to pass. But signs were there over the […]
U.S. stock futures and markets around the world are mostly holding steady or ticking higher in early Wednesday trading, but only after spinning through an election night dominated by surprises and sharp swings. After rallying early this week amid hopes that Election Day’s arrival could clear the uncertainty that’s been weighing on markets, Treasury yields […]
With the prevalence of high-frequency trading, some financial market exchange platforms have imposed speed bumps to delay trading orders and slow these traders down. “Of course, the details will be different from exchange to exchange, but basically, they slow down or [they] impose some time lags between the order placement by high-frequency traders and order […]
As institutional investors increase allocations to alternative investments, it becomes increasingly challenging to understand risk. A new paper, co-authored by Spencer Couts, assistant professor of real estate at the University of Southern California; Andrei S. Goncalves, an assistant professor of finance at the University of North Carolina; and Andrea Rossi, an assistant professor of finance […]
While many drivers can influence stock market returns, it turns out the time of the day may play an important role. In particular, the four hours around the time Asian markets close and European markets open account for the entire market returns when looking at E-mini S&P 500 futures, according to the paper by Dmitriy […]
With federal and provincial regulators introducing relief measures this year to support pension plans amid the financial upheaval resulting from the coronavirus crisis, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario saw a lot of action from plan sponsors registered in the province. “In terms of whether plans are taking advantage of the relief — they are in […]
Over the last 20 years, managing a pension plan has looked a little like riding a roller coaster — with the 2001 technology bubble, 2008/09 financial crisis and the recent coronavirus market volatility providing sudden, gut-wrenching drops that can draw a scream from even the heartiest of souls. “From an investment standpoint, we’ve been in […]
With U.S. stock prices exceeding pre-coronavirus highs and credit spreads nearly as tight as before the pandemic, investors are signalling overconfidence in the market, says Rob Almeida, portfolio manager and global investment strategist at MFS Investment Management. While polls and betting odds appear to be favouring a Joe Biden win, that doesn’t align with what […]