This time last year, the FTSE Canadian universe bond index was yielding a paltry 2.3 per cent and few, if any, anticipated how strong fixed-income returns would be in 2020. Over the year, the index returned 8.7 per cent due to a significant drop in interest rates in the first half as the Bank of […]
Canada’s central bank will update its economic forecast for the country Wednesday when it announces its interest-rate decision, offering a glimpse into its outlook for COVID-19 recovery. The Bank of Canada said in October the country had been spared from a worst-case economic scenario, but it still didn’t see a recovery taking hold until at […]
While institutional investors are facing headwinds from unexpected inflation and geopolitical realignment in 2021, the coming year will also see rebounds for corporate earnings and equities, according to two new research papers from Mercer. “Non-stop social and technological change has increased at a rate as exciting as it’s bewildering and COVID-19 has resulted in an […]
While there’s still a period of uncertainty ahead, the deployment of coronavirus vaccines is already having a positive effect on markets, according to a webinar hosted by FTSE Russell on Wednesday. In November, the global and U.S. equities markets saw double-digit returns following vaccine announcements by pharmaceutical firms Pfizer Inc., Moderna Inc. and AstraZeneca, said […]
Institutional investors are focusing on equities and global markets as the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic continue in Canada, according to a webinar hosted by Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. on Tuesday. In the keynote address, Stephen Poloz, former governor of the Bank of Canada, said the pandemic is amplifying the economic effects of five pre-existing […]
Despite several bumps in the decade since the 2008/09 financial crisis, the swift and brutal crash in global equity prices when the coronavirus was declared a pandemic sent pension investors reaching for their playbooks to implement defensive strategies to mitigate the damage. “People have worked very hard at just acting on the set strategies that […]
While inflation never materialized after the last financial crisis and the subsequent economic expansion, this time will be different, said Erik Weisman, portfolio manager and chief economist at MFS Investment Management, when speaking at the Canadian Investment Review’s Investment Innovation Conference in November. After the global financial crisis, quantitative easing didn’t generate inflation because the […]
The Canadian Investment Review’s Risk Management Award will go to a pension plan that has successfully implemented a robust approach to its risk management function. This can include implementing de-risking or re-risking or it can showcase day-to-day processes in place for risk management in pension plan investments. Highlights about the three finalists are available below: […]
Despite several bumps in the decade since the 2008/09 financial crisis, the swift and brutal crash in global equity prices when the coronavirus was declared a pandemic sent pension investors reaching for their playbooks to implement defensive strategies to mitigate the damage. “People have worked very hard at just acting on the set strategies that […]
Despite the low interest rate environment, it still makes sense for defined benefit pension plan sponsors to adopt a liability-driven investment strategy, said Serge Lapierre, global head of LDI at Manulife Investment Management, during a webinar sponsored by the firm on Monday. LDI investing is a risk management framework, he noted. “It’s not an asset […]