If you needed any evidence that cryptocurrency investments are having a mainstream moment, look no further than last weekend’s episode of Saturday Night Live. In the week leading up to Tesla co-founder and cryptocurrency enthusiast Elon Musk’s May 8 appearance as host of the long-running comedy sketch show, Dogecoin hit an all-time high of around US$0.73, […]
A defined benefit pension plan leader rarely gets to work with a “blank canvas,” but Chuck Bruce has taken that unique opportunity and drawn a new way forward for more than 56,000 DB plan members in Newfoundland and Labrador. In late 2014, the province and its five largest unions established Provident10 to administer and oversee […]
Manulife Financial Corp. is linking its executive team goals to the company’s climate action plan, including committing to a net-zero focus by reducing emissions operationally, adopting sustainable investing practices and developing solutions that contribute to climate change mitigation. Members of the organization’s executive leadership team already have performance goals linked to diversity, equity and inclusion, employee engagement […]
The average defined benefit pension plan saw its funded position continue to improve in April on a solvency and accounting basis, according to a new report by Morneau Shepell Ltd. During the month, bond yields and credit spreads stabilized, although long-term bond yields increased slightly, negatively affecting long-term fixed income returns. Global equities performed well, […]
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is boosting its interest in Indian infrastructure conglomerate IndInfravit Trust, after agreeing to pay $173 million for an additional 15.9 per cent of the toll road operator. The deal, which is scheduled for completion by the middle of May will take the CPPIB’s total stake in the investment trust to […]
The majority (86 per cent) of Imperial Oil Ltd. investors voted to defeat a shareholder resolution that the organization adopt a target to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. However, the vote held during the Calgary-based company’s virtual annual meeting exposes a rift between its parent U.S. giant Exxon Mobil Corp. — which owns 69.6 […]
The University of Toronto Asset Management Corp. ended 2020 with pension and endowment returns of 11.7 per cent and 11.6 per cent, respectively. In a press release, the UTAM said while the pension return matched that of its benchmark reference portfolio, endowments underperformed by 0.2 per cent. However, it noted long-term performance of the portfolios […]
Canada’s defined benefit pension plans experienced flat performance in the first quarter of 2021, with the median plan’s returns declining by 0.2 per cent in the first three months of 2021 after rising 10 per cent through 2020, according to Northern Trust Canada’s pension universe. Read: Canada’s DB pension plans post 5% return in Q4, […]
The Nova Scotia Teachers’ Pension Plan returned 6.78 per cent in 2020, increasing net assets to $5.519 billion, but falling short of the policy benchmark of 7.96 per cent. The plan did outperform the actuarial assumed rate of return of 5.70 per cent. “Like many pension plans across the country impacted by COVID-19, we saw […]
The British Columbia Investment Management Corp. is partnering with the University of Victoria-led Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions to co-develop decision-making tools and frameworks for integrating climate change risk evaluation and climate mitigation opportunities into investment portfolios. “Acting in the best financial interests of our clients requires us to think long-term about the opportunities and […]