More than half (56 per cent) of people in the world’s 10 fastest growing economies have retirement goals at roughly twice the size of what they’re actually likely to have accumulated by age 60, according to a new report by multinational financial services company Standard Chartered. In the top 10 fastest growing economies — which include China, […]
Sun Life Financial is set to take an 80 per cent stake in investment manager InfraRed Capital Partners. Headquartered in London, England, InfraRed manages global infrastructure and real estate investments. The transaction includes a closing payment of about $515 million, with InfraRed’s owners maintaining an option to sell their remaining positions in the company to […]
CAA Club Group is making virtual health care available to all its full- and part-time employees through its benefits plan. The program is a partnership between virtual care provider Maple and Morneau Shepell Ltd.’s employee assistance program. Employees will be able to reach doctors through Maple’s platform at any time of day and will be […]
MSCI Inc. is awarding emerging market status to the MSCI Kuwait Indexes as the country’s equity market now meets the required criteria for reclassification. The reclassification will be part of the MSCI’s May 2020 semi-annual review. In late October, the Kuwait Capital Market Authority resolved to amend certain provisions of the executive bylaws and rules […]
A new report by the C.D. Howe Institute is recommending the federal government amend legislation to allow Canadians to buy life annuities within a tax-free savings account. It also suggested the government modifies the draft legislation creating advanced deferred life annuities and variable payment life annuities to make them both available within a TFSA. “More than 45,000 employers […]
The Canada Life Assurance Co. is eliminating plastic drug plan cards, with an aim to move to a completely digital experience for group plan members by 2021. Beginning Jan. 1, 2020, the insurer will begin encouraging its group benefits plan sponsors to opt out of providing plastic drug cards to members. With advancements in digital […]
The Nasdaq is launching a publicly available, web-based sustainable bond network. Bond issuers will be able to use the platform to voluntarily publish data and information on their sustainable offerings, aiming to give investors better ability to compare products. At the outset, the network will feature data from certain European and U.S. bond issuers, with […]
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is committing US$225 million to the India Resurgence Fund platform, through its wholly owned subsidiary CPPIB Credit Investments Inc. The IndiaRF is a distressed-assets buyout platform, jointly sponsored by Piramal Enterprises Ltd. and Bain Capital Credit. It seeks to buy distressed assets by purchasing existing debt and equity securities, either through bankruptcy courts, directly from […]
Canadian insurance and risk management brokerage Navacord Corp. is acquiring Concord, Ont.-based SmartChoice Benefits Inc. The acquisition will allow Navacord to enter the third-party administration space, noted a press release. “It also shows our commitment to building the required scale, carrier relationships, . . . products and technology solutions to place us among the leaders in the Canadian market for […]
Heading into 2020 and beyond, the outlook for interest rates is impacting the federal government’s projected pension obligations and its budgetary balance. In its 2019 fall economic update on Monday, the government reduced the projected budgetary balance by $4.2 billion in 2019/20 and $11.6 billion in 2024/25. While the balance projections aren’t entirely related to pension obligations, […]