As global equities overcame inflationary fears and continued an upward trend, Canadian pension plan investment returns increased during the second quarter of 2021, with the median plan returning 4.1 per cent, according to Northern Trust Canada’s pension universe. “The course of the pandemic has certainly taught us attributes about strength and adaptation, fundamentals we can […]
The Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board is entering a co-investment partnership with the Government of Singapore Investment Corp. and Boston Properties Inc. to acquire $1 billion in office properties. The CPPIB and Boston Properties will each invest $250 million in the venture, which will target offices in Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and […]
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is investing $1 billion in Amazon.com Inc.’s chief rival in the Indian e-commerce sector. The Flipkart Group, which was founded in 2007, boasted the largest share of India’s e-commerce market in 2020, significantly ahead of its closest rival Amazon. The CPPIB investment is part of a total US$3.6 billion funding round for […]
The funded position for an average Canadian defined benefit pension plan improved slightly on both a solvency and accounting basis in June, according to a new report by LifeWorks Inc. (formerly Morneau Shepell Ltd.) The average solvency ratio was 109.3 per cent in June, compared to 108.2 per cent in May. On an accounting basis, the average […]
It’s a welcome development that so many pension fund managers are increasingly preoccupied with the ethical implications of their investments and incorporating data to ensure that funds adhere to the environmental, social and governance criteria. Described by Mirza Baig, global head of ESG research and stewardship at Aviva Investors, as the “year ESG came of age,” 2020 saw record sustainable […]
With bond returns tied to interest rates, it’s no surprise Canadian pension funds are increasingly seeking other ways to boost fixed income yields. Canadian interest rates have been trending downward for the last 30 years, from a high of 10.3 per cent in 1990 to around 1.75 per cent in early 2020, according to the […]
As institutional investors seek portfolio diversification and the insurance industry seeks additional capacity amid global growth, investment strategies incorporating insurance-linked securities are providing a solution for both parties. Insurance-linked securities allow insurers to transfer some of their risk to investors. For example, in the case of catastrophe bonds, the issuer pays a coupon to an […]
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Alberta Investment Management Corp. are together investing $2.4 billion in the Australian digital infrastructure company BAI Communications Pty. Ltd. The funds have been earmarked to support BAI’s global growth strategy and acquisitions. BAI recently announced a partnership agreement with Transport for London to deliver high-speed mobile coverage […]
The value of assets held by Canadian trusteed pension funds increased to $2.2 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to new data from Statistics Canada. This was an increase of 4.7 per cent from the previous quarter, when the value of assets hit $2.12 trillion, and represents a 6.6 per cent year increase from […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is participating in a $225 million Series D funding round of AlayaCare, a Montreal-based at-home health-care software provider. The company’s artificial intelligence-based software is used by more than 500 health-care organizations around the world. In the past two years, it’s seen its U.S.-based business grow seven-times over. […]