Asset classes – Benefits Canada.com

Canada’s DB pension plans post 9.2% return in 2020

mschmit — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 11:00:37 +0000

Despite market uncertainty due to the coronavirus pandemic and a turbulent U.S. presidential election cycle, Canadian defined benefit pension plans ended the year with near double-digit gains, according to a report by RBC Investor & Treasury Services. Amid the once-in-a-century crisis, market returns in 2020 for retirement assets were 9.2 per cent, noted the report. […]

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CPPIB acquiring U.K. mall after owner fails to find buyer

mschmit — Wed, 16 Dec 2020 11:00:59 +0000

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s credit division is acquiring the Trafford Centre in Britain after the shopping mall’s owner failed to find a buyer. The CPPIB Credit Investments Inc. provided a £250-million loan in 2017 that was secured by an equity interest in the Trafford Centre. The mall was placed under protection from creditors […]

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Yes, Canadian pension plans actually do outperform their global peers: study

mschmit — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 05:15:48 +0000

While Canadian pension plans hold a quiet confidence, it turns out they actually do outperform their international peers when it comes to asset performance and liability hedging, according to a research paper from McGill University and CEM Benchmarking. The paper found Canadian plans achieve this outperformance using a three-pillar model: managing assets in-house to reduce costs, redeploying […]

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Climate risk goes beyond the ‘E’ in ESG: webinar

mschmit — Fri, 31 Jul 2020 06:30:23 +0000

Climate change has accelerated the risk of expensive natural disasters, but these risks still aren’t being adequately taken into consideration in investment decisions. “Climate risks oftentimes are evaluated more under ‘E’ in [environmental, social and governance risk assessments],” said Jeff Schlegelmilch, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, in a webinar hosted […]

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How coronavirus will affect real estate investing long term

mschmit — Fri, 17 Jul 2020 05:45:11 +0000

Institutional investors are grappling with the long-term implications of how the coronavirus pandemic will affect demand for various real estate sectors. Many real estate assets will remain under pressure even as establishments across sectors are once again able to welcome customers, says Jeff Olin, president and chief executive officer at Vision Capital Corp., noting that […]

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PSP sees -0.6% return for fiscal year

mschmit — Mon, 13 Jul 2020 04:45:50 +0000

The Public Sector Pension Investment Board saw a negative 0.6 per cent return for its last fiscal year, which ended March 31, 2020. Severe market declines in the lead up to the end of March took a heavy toll. However, the fund did outperform its reference portfolio’s benchmark, which posted a negative 2.2 per cent […]

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Sun Life launching ESG framework for pension plan sponsors

mschmit — Tue, 07 Jul 2020 11:15:52 +0000

Sun Life Canada is launching an environmental, social and governance framework for its group retirement services to help pension plan sponsors and members make sustainable investing decisions. The framework is meant to identify ESG leaders in both funds and managers across all major asset categories offered in the record-keeper’s group retirement services core investment platform, […]

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Employer pension plan asset values grows 2.3% in Q4 2019

mschmit — Fri, 12 Jun 2020 11:15:50 +0000

The market value of assets in Canadian employer-sponsored pension plans rose to $2.09 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2019, up 2.3 per cent from the previous quarter, according to new data from Statistics Canada. All investment categories saw growth, led by real estate (4.9 per cent) and public equities (4.5 per cent), with mortgages […]

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70% of institutional investors expect ESG integration to become standard practice: survey

mschmit — Wed, 20 May 2020 11:30:21 +0000

The vast majority (96 per cent) of institutional investors feel they have an important role to play in addressing the world’s most pressing challenges, including climate change, social and economic inequality and the need for infrastructure development, according to a new survey by Natixis Investment Managers. About half (48 per cent) of survey respondents said institutional […]

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What shape might economic recovery take?

mschmit — Wed, 20 May 2020 05:30:57 +0000

With some jurisdictions gently reducing coronavirus-imposed restrictions, institutional investors are beginning to lay out possible scenarios for economic recovery. The terms V- and U-shaped recovery, along with arguments over which is more likely, have swirled throughout the past few months as economies around the world shut down huge swathes of their normal activities. Alessio de Longis, […]

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