Looking back on last year’s investment activity, institutional investors continued to pile into private equity. Globally, commitments to private equity funds jumped 27 per cent, or US$41 billion, in the third quarter, although there were only 201 final closes for the period, down seven per cent from the quarter prior, according to a report from […]
Shareholder environmental activism has been growing in popularity with institutional investors, but is it working? The New York City pension system implemented a boardroom accountability project in 2014, with the intent of improving the sustainability characteristics of its portfolio companies. And, according to a new paper, results show firms targeted by the boardroom accountability project’s […]
The company behind the $6.2-billion Coastal GasLink pipeline in British Columbia has made a deal to sell a 65 per cent equity interest in the project. In a news release, TC Energy Corp. said it has entered into an agreement for the sale to KKR & Co. Inc. and the Alberta Investment Management Corp., on behalf of certain […]
Investors are waiting for some of the conflicts causing global uncertainty to be resolved. But will they get their wish in 2020? “We’re entering the year, the decade, on pretty unstable footing,” said Dawn Desjardins, vice-president and deputy chief economist at the Royal Bank of Canada, during the keynote session at the Canadian Investment Review’s 2019 […]
When the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan started to zero in on environmental, social and governance issues, it began by asking why these subjects were worth pursuing in the first place. “We started this journey 10 years ago,” said Barbara Zvan, chief risk and strategy officer at the Ontario Teachers’, during a session at the Canadian Investment […]
In the investment space, readers were focused on the moves of the big public pension funds and real estate investment in 2019, with the top three most-read stories tackling those topics. Benefits Canada rounds up the industry’s favourite investment stories of the year: 1. Canadian DB plans return median 1.7 per cent in Q3 2. Hugh O’Reilly stepping down from OPTrust 3. OPTrust partners […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is investing in a $50-million equity raising round for a subsidiary of Quebec hotel operator Le Germain Hotels. In addition, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, iA Financial Group and La Capitale participated in the round for ALT Canada Investment Partnership, which manages 12 Alt Hotel locations in 10 Canadian cities, […]
While an outsourced chief investment officer model may be the right option for a pension plan under particular circumstances, circumstances can change. Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Co. took on an OCIO structure several years ago, but changes within the company made the model less appropriate over time, said Wes Peters, the company’s vice-president of investments, during […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec’s subsidiary CDPQ Infra has concluded a work optimization agreement with NouvLR, the consortium building the Réseau express métropolitain, a rapid transit system underway in the greater Montreal area. The agreement is a response to challenges identified during the first 18 months of the project and reinforces the project’s delivery […]
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 […]