Three of Canada’s largest pension funds are investing in a new fund focused on the global transition to a net-zero economy. The Brookfield Global Transition Fund, founded by Brookfield Asset Management Inc., closed its funding after raising US$7 billion ($8.8 billion) with the help of the Investment Management Corp. of Ontario, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan […]
The University Pension Plan has selected CIBC Mellon to provide asset servicing, investment operations and plan member services, including custody, institutional accounting, performance and analytics, risk, compliance and pension benefit payment services. The jointly sponsored pension plan, which was launched on July 1, currently covers employees at Queen’s University, the University of Guelph and the University of Toronto, with […]
Aon and Willis Towers Watson have agreed to terminate their proposed merger and end litigation with the U.S. Department of Justice. The merger, which was first announced in March 2020 and received shareholder approval in August 2020, was challenged last month, with the DOJ asserting the deal could eliminate competition, raise prices and hamper innovation […]
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 investing in a Toronto-based artificial intelligence company. The CPPIB entered a $125 million funding round for a Untether AI Corp., a company that creates software and hardware used in AI platforms. The new funding will be used to enhance its software offerings and build a new generation of products, […]
Whether institutional investors welcome it — or even realize it — cryptocurrency is having an impact on their portfolios. The immense size of the crypto ecosystem — about US$ 1 trillion — and its disruptive effects are being felt across capital markets. In its various forms, it’s changing the way businesses operate. Financial analysts see […]
In case you missed it, a recent legal opinion by pension lawyer Randy Bauslaugh suggested plan sponsors might be personally liable for failing to consider risks posed by climate change in the institutional investment decision-making process. Bauslaugh’s paper connected the dots between the current evidence on the materiality and urgency of the financial implications of climate change and the recent reflection of this […]
The Chartered Financial Analyst Institute’s draft voluntary environmental, social and governance disclosure standards are vulnerable to greenwashing, warns the Investment Funds Institute of Canada. In an open letter to the CFA regarding its drafted voluntary regulations, the IFIC is criticizing the proposed standards’ failure to define what does and doesn’t qualify as an ESG investment. […]
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 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 […]