Despite the credit crunch and recently volatility in the stock market, private equity can still be a worthwhile investment for pension funds and other investors, says Watson Wyatt. According to its Private Equity Market Update, if credit conditions continue to deteriorate, there is likely to be an increase in the supply of distressed businesses. In […]
Once regarded as specialized tools, equity derivatives today are used by North American institutions as a routine method of obtaining desired exposures and hedging positions, according to a survey by Greenwich Associates. The survey reveals that it is becoming common practice at North American institutions for cash portfolio managers to work in conjunction with traders […]
Great-West Lifeco has signed a definitive agreement to sell its healthcare business to a subsidiary of Cigna Corporation. The transaction has an enterprise value of US$2.25 billion and is expected to close during the first half of 2008, subject to regulatory and certain other approvals. “In the United States, Great-West Lifeco will now be entirely […]
CIBC Mellon Global Securities Services Company has launched a new monthly trade match report card to help investment managers comply with new Canadian institutional trade matching guidelines contained within National Instrument(NI)24-101. Beginning in February 2008, NI 24-101 requires investment managers to report quarterly trade matching performance to the Canadian Securities Administrators if they fail to […]
Teachers in Alberta have tentatively approved a deal with the province where the government will assume responsibility for the $2.1 billion liability in the Alberta Teachers’ Association’s pension fund. The province agreed to assume two-thirds of the $6.4 billion liability 15 years ago, leaving the rest to the ATA. Now it will assume the other […]
Some financial institutions are choosing to pass on their asset-backed commercial paper(ABCP)losses to their mutual, pooled and segregated fund investors while others have chosen to shield investors from losses, according to Morneau Sobeco. Industrial Alliance has devalued ABCP holdings in several of the segregated funds managed by their in-house investment team by 15%. And MD […]
Nova Scotia’s government has introduced an amendment that will ensure all pension plans are fully funded when a company leaves the province or winds down their pension plan and is also planning to review its pension benefits legislation. “We are committed to bringing forth legislative amendments that will address pension issues in a sustainable and […]
Institutional investors are less confident this month, according to the State Street Investor Confidence Index. Global investor confidence fell by 7.7 points to a level of 74.3, from last month’s revised reading of 82.0. North American investors were the key drivers of this decline, as their confidence fell from 90.4 to its second lowest reading […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec’s chairman and CEO is expected to go before the provincial legislature’s finance committee to explain the organization’s exposure to third-party asset-backed commercial paper(ABCP), according to media reports. The Globe and Mail and the Montreal Gazette report that efforts are being made for Henri-Paul Rousseau to make a […]
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has ruled that public service, RCMP, and Canadian Forces employees aren’t entitled to the surplus in their pension plans. In his ruling, Justice Anotine Lotbiniere Panet rejected the unions’ claims that they had an interest in the estimated $30.2 billion surplus and that the federal government breached a contract […]