Why should employers implement health promotions? Essentially, we promote health to our employees so they’ll be more successful in the workplace and also know that they are valued. In turn, this can affect engagement, retention and attraction of top employees. What are you hoping to add to UBC’s health initiatives? Lots more. We’re planning to […]
For the University of British Columbia (UBC), integrating health and wellness practices into the institution’s culture has been a process. Health promotions for faculty and staff at the 103-year-old Vancouver-based university formally began in 2003 with a one-day Health Symposium, which included a keynote speaker, a lunch and a series of sessions. “Employees were encouraged […]
Instead of enjoying a networking lunch and golf game with a banker friend in Vienna on Sept. 14, 2008—the day before Lehman Brothers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection—Tom MacMillan was cloistered in his hotel room. The then-CEO of CIBC Mellon (now chair of its board of directors) was in the Austrian capital for Sibos, […]
AIMA Canada presented its 8th annual luncheon debate on May 25 at The National Club in Toronto. The tongue-in-cheek debate looked at which risk investors should be prepared for in the next few years: inflation or deflation. Hubert Marleau, co-founder of Palos Management in Montreal, argued for inflation and Derek Holt, vice-president of Scotia Capital […]
Pension funds can’t afford not to have a view on emerging markets, according to Paul Kapsos, portfolio manager, emerging markets, with the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. Speaking at the Pension & Benefits Summit on April 28 in Toronto, Kapsos added that the long-term risk/return trade-off has been positive to emerging market equities. But which of […]
Calvin Jordan, CEO of the Nova Scotia Association of Health Organizations (NSAHO) Pension Plan in Bedford, N.S., discussed how this DB plan uses leverage to improve its asset liability matching at the Pension & Benefits Conference on April 27 in Toronto. The $3.6-billion plan’s asset mix is 25% fixed income (65%, but 40% is leveraged), […]
Pensions are inextricably tied to the economy, said Malcolm Hamilton, an actuary with Mercer (Canada) Ltd., speaking recently in Toronto at the Association of Canadian Pension Management’s spring session, Checking the Pulse of Pension Reform. “If the markets do well, any pension will work. If the economy is bad, any pension—no matter how good—will fail,” […]
Plan sponsors should think about currency as they would about pie. How so? “When we talk about currency, it’s like we’re talking about pie,” said Ian Toner, head of currency implementation with Russell Investments, speaking on April 28 at the Pension & Benefits Summit in Toronto. “The problem with currency is, you need to know […]
Global investing provides investors with “the broadest possible opportunity set,” said Gerald Smith, chief investment officer at Baillie Gifford, speaking today at the Pension & Benefits Summit in Toronto. Baillie Gifford—an Edinburgh-based investment management firm that has been investing in global equities since 1909—has learned a few lessons over its hundred years in this space. […]
Dr. Damian Handzy admits he’s a skeptic. The chair and CEO of Investor Analytics, speaking yesterday at the Pension & Benefits Summit in Toronto, said skepticism is an overall approach that requires information to be well supported by evidence. But what has this got to do with pension risk? With risk analytics, Handzy said, you […]