Home Michael McKiernan

Right from the very beginning, the coronavirus pandemic has taken Canadian real estate investors on a wild ride. After the freefalling panic of March 2020, the sector settled into a relatively comfortable rhythm and undulated through several waves of the virus, saving one of its steeper peaks and troughs for the tail end of 2021. […]

  • March 18, 2022 April 13, 2022
  • 08:54

Years before his late-career rebirth as nemesis to former U.S. President Donald Trump, Robert Muller coined a phrase that went down in history among cybersecurity experts. “I am convinced that there are only two types of companies: those that have been hacked and those that will be,” said the then Federal Bureau of Investigation director […]

  • December 17, 2021 December 16, 2021
  • 08:56

The selection of a target-date fund glide path is more crucial than ever as the migration from DB to DC pension plans continues. Since its formation in the mid-1990s as an optional alternative to the company’s longstanding defined benefit offerings, the DC plan has amassed more than $1.5 billion in total assets as members gradually […]

  • October 15, 2021 November 8, 2021
  • 08:55

Michel Charron has had a front-row seat for the revolution in the Canadian investment industry’s approach to environmental, social and governance issues. Following the foundation of the United Nation’s principles for responsible investment in 2008, his firm, PBI Actuarial Consultants Inc., immediately signed up. But the concept required explanation for some pension plan sponsors, he […]

  • August 13, 2021 August 12, 2021
  • 08:54

If there was a Hall of Fame for catastrophic years, 2020 would be a certainty for admission, with Canada among many nations around the globe struggling through a sickening cycle of coronavirus pandemic waves, interrupted only by economic and societal lockdowns. But take a look at the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology pension plan’s […]

  • June 30, 2021 July 7, 2021
  • 08:57

The Public Service Pension Investment Board is teaming up with real estate investor Bridge Industrial to launch a joint venture targeting logistics properties in the U.K. The pair aim to build a portfolio worth £1 billion ($1.7 billion) by acquiring and developing assets inside high-barrier infill markets in the Greater London and Midlands regions. Read: Caisse […]

  • May 18, 2021 May 18, 2021
  • 09:00

If you needed any evidence that cryptocurrency investments are having a mainstream moment, look no further than last weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Live. In the week leading up to Tesla co-founder and cryptocurrency enthusiast Elon Musk’s May 8 appearance as host of the long-running comedy sketch show, Dogecoin hit an all-time high of around US$0.73, […]

  • May 17, 2021 May 18, 2021
  • 09:00

Investors breathed a sigh of relief as they turned over their calendars at the end of 2020. Few were sorry to see the back of a turbulent year that drove nation after nation to their worst economic contractions in generations: over the course of 2020, the U.S. gross domestic product shrank around 3.5 per cent, […]

  • May 14, 2021 May 14, 2021
  • 08:56

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is boosting its interest in Indian infrastructure conglomerate IndInfravit Trust, after agreeing to pay $173 million for an additional 15.9 per cent of the toll road operator. The deal, which is scheduled for completion by the middle of May will take the CPPIB’s total stake in the investment trust to […]

  • May 10, 2021 May 10, 2021
  • 15:00

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has doubled down on its Korea Income Joint Venture with asset manager ESR Cayman Ltd., as the pair collectively boosted their investment by US$500 million, bringing the total equity allocation to US$1 billion. According to a news release, the CPPIB contributed the bulk of the new capital to the […]

  • April 29, 2021 May 20, 2021
  • 10:25