Canadian pension plans eked out a small return of almost 0.4 per cent for the first quarter of 2018, according to CIBC Mellon Global Securities Services Co. On Friday, CIBC Mellon released the latest report on the returns of 85 corporate, public and university pension plans. It showed 65 per cent of pension plans saw positive […]
The Canadian dollar has had its share of ups and downs over the past year or so. At the beginning of 2017, it sat at 74 cents U.S., rising to a recent high of 82 cents in September. Since then, it has fluctuated at around the 80-cent level, falling by a few cents throughout early […]
While saving for retirement is an incredibly long journey, visualizing the entire process is a great way to get to better outcomes, according to Neil Walton, head of investment solutions at Schroder Investment Management Ltd. “Start with the end in mind,” Walton told participants at Benefits Canada’s Defined Contribution Plan Summit. “That means reviewing projected […]
Net returns in defined benefit pension plans were higher than net returns in defined contribution plans by an average of 0.46 per cent annually over the last 10 years, according to new research by CEM Benchmarking Inc. That compares to the 1.8 per cent difference the last time the organization compared the performance, for the period […]
For some investors, tradition isn’t cutting it anymore. Rock-bottom interest rates are squeezing fixed-income returns, and the need to diversify through sturdy, lower-risk assets is apparent. While low volatility in equity markets is comforting, how long will it last? “We don’t know when but we’re pretty sure the equity market will correct, maybe severely,” says […]
The OPSEU Pension Trust has completed the 1,000th trade from its in-house trading floor, which was launched in June. The decision to manage a large portion of public market assets in-house was part of the fund’s implementation of its member-driven investment strategy, notes a press release. “The reporting and reconciliation aspects of in-house trading are […]
Target-date funds seek to provide members of defined contribution pension plans with a straightforward experience, adjusting their asset mix in a set-it-and-forget-it option geared towards achieving acceptable retirement outcomes. But the target-date fund world is diverse. There are differing features, including active and passive underlying funds, glide paths that go to or through a retirement date, […]
For years, Canadians have faced calls to invest overseas given the narrowness of the Canadian equity market and the relatively small proportion of global gross domestic product Canada represents. Publicly listed Canadian companies have ranged between three and five per cent of global GDP, and yet Canadian investors’ allocations to Canadian equities have historically been […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is emphasizing global investments even as it noted the impact of political uncertainty in its newly released annual report for 2016. Read: Caisse focuses on ‘all-terrain portfolio’ as return drops to 7.6% “The year 2016 was anything but boring. After years of growth fuelled by low interest […]
Investors have long had a fascination with emerging markets and their prospect for higher growth rates, leading to a variety of investments in everything from bonds and equities, both public and private, to real estate, infrastructure and agriculture. Emerging market equities haven’t delivered on their expected promise, underperforming developed markets in the five-year period ending December 2016. […]