Companies with gender diverse leadership reap many benefits including better returns on equity, according to Delaney Greig, engagement analyst at the Shareholder Association for Research and Education. “Where there’s more woman on boards and in senior management you see that returns on equity tend to be higher and above the market, and the same goes for […]
The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System improved its net investment return to 10.3 per cent at the end of 2016 compared to 6.7 per cent at the end of 2015, citing a strong performance from its public investments. The pension fund increased its net assets to $85.2 billion in 2016 from $77.1 billion in 2015, […]
Canada is lagging behind other jurisdictions in establishing a regulatory framework for due diligence around human rights in global supply chains, according to a new report by the Shareholder Association for Research and Education. The report says this lack of regulatory framework creates a challenge for institutional investors using a benchmark to compare Canadian equity […]
When Staples Canada Inc. moved to a smoke-free environment at its two Ontario corporate offices in January 2016, the company helped its employees prepare for the change by launching a six-month smoking-cessation program. Staples introduced the program to help employees who smoked adapt to the new environment, says Kate Tilsley, director of North America stores, […]
Last year was another significant one for the real estate market as British Columbia introduced its tax on foreign buyers and the federal government made another set of changes to mortgage rules. The market remained relatively strong despite the changes, but with the landscape for real estate in flux, many institutional investors are fine-tuning their […]
Portfolio managers from Foyston Gordon and Payne Inc. talk trade reform
Mental-health advocate and former National Hockey League goaltender Clint Malarchuk will share his struggles with mental illness in the closing keynote presentation at the 2017 Benefits and Pension Summit in Toronto on April 11-12. After experiencing a life-threatening injury that ended his career, Malarchuk reported battling with anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and depression. During the […]
There will be clear winners and losers if U.S. President Donald Trump continues with plans to reform trade and financial regulations this year, according to a panel of portfolio managers from Foyston Gordon and Payne Inc. who spoke at a client event in Toronto yesterday. Trump’s intention to adjust border taxes for countries exporting products […]
Support for employee development is among the key trends identified by human resources association WorldatWork in its new total rewards inventory that examines the prevalence of 176 different employee benefits among organizations around the world. The association surveyed about 730 employers and found while a majority offer standard benefits, such as health and dental plans, life insurance, […]
The benefits industry is welcoming comments from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday that suggested his government doesn’t plan to tax employee health and dental plans. “The life and health insurance industry is very pleased that the federal government has recognized the hardship that taxing health and dental benefit plans would have imposed on Canadians . . […]