Investeco Financial Corporation(IFC)has launched the global environmental sectors fund, which aims to provide long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in publicly traded global securities that operate in the fast growing environmental sectors. The fund aims to outperform broad global indices by investing in companies that operate in alternative power, water, natural and organic foods, and […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec’s $13.2 billion holdings in third-party asset-backed commercial paper(ABCP)is not a risk to its credit profile, says DBRS. The credit rating agency notes “that the ABCP position will dampen returns due to the provisions to be taken against the holdings” but it nonetheless remains manageable because of three […]
A large majority—87%—of defined benefit (DB) plans in Canada will likely stick with the DB model over the next five to 10 years, according to a survey conducted by the Canadian Pension Fund Directory (a sister publication of Benefits Canada) for Pyramis Global Advisors. The survey, Exploring New Ground: Key Global Pension Strategies for […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec holds $13.2 billion worth of third-party asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP), its president and chief executive said on Wednesday. “This amount may seem high,” Henri-Paul Rousseau told the Committee on Public Finance of the National Assembly of Québec. “Moreover, it is correct to say that, in dollar terms, […]
The Government of Alberta has amended the Employment Pension Plans Regulation to allow letters of credit as an option for solvency funding in pension plans. Employees’ benefits will not be affected by this change and employers will have improved flexibility for administering pension plans. The concept of using letters of credit was proposed in an […]
Nova Scotia has tabled Bill 24, the Dental Hygienists Act, which will allow the province’s dental hygienists to perform a greater range of preventative dental-care duties and to practice in independent settings. Under the proposed legislation, dental hygienists will have greater autonomy, allowing them to set up free-standing dental-hygiene clinics and practice independent of dentists. […]
Toronto-based investment firm K.J. Harrison & Partners(KJH)has filed a shareholder resolution with Marsh & McLellan, proposing that it spin off its Mercer and Kroll subsidiaries. It believes the breakup of Marsh is necessary to protect the value of the underlying franchises and to maximize shareholder value. “Marsh & McLennan trades at the same price as […]
Viterra says the Federal Court of Canada has adjourned court proceedings that were previously scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday regarding the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool/Grain Services Union pension issue. Last week, Viterra announced the signing of a settlement agreement with the GSU that would see the company take full responsibility for funding the solvency deficiency payments, […]
Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty believes pension plans and the private sector must play a bigger role in making investments in Canada’s infrastructure. “It’s time to tap into the wealth of experience, knowledge, capital that is accumulated in the private sector and not only strictly in the private sector but also of course in our […]
State Street has launched a private equity index, comprised of data including more than 1,300 private equity partnerships with a total fund size in excess of US$1.1 trillion. The index will allow private equity investors to evaluate their performance against their peers across a broad and representative sample of investments. Unlike other indices, the company […]