The Pension Investment Association of Canada is urging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to adopt new rules mandating enhanced disclosures of climate risks and other environmental, social and governance factors. In a letter submitted by Natasha Trainor, PIAC’s chair, the association said it supports regulatory proposals that would require businesses to disclose more information on […]
President-elect Joe Biden will inherit a vulnerable economic recovery under threat from a resurgent virus, likely with a divided Congress that will hinder his ability to address the challenges. Yet despite the obstacles, the former vice-president and senator will pursue a drastic shift in America’s economic policy. He has vowed to reverse much of the […]
With U.S. stock prices exceeding pre-coronavirus highs and credit spreads nearly as tight as before the pandemic, investors are signalling overconfidence in the market, says Rob Almeida, portfolio manager and global investment strategist at MFS Investment Management. While polls and betting odds appear to be favouring a Joe Biden win, that doesn’t align with what […]
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned Wednesday that the viral epidemic is endangering the modest economic recovery that followed a collapse in hiring and spending this spring. As a result, he said, the Fed plans to keep interest rates pinned near zero well into the future. That faltering economy, pressured by a resurgence of the […]
When interest rates are low, how does this influence U.S. public pension plans’ propensity to take risk? In a working paper looking at the period between 2002 and 2016, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston found, on average, pension funds take more risk when both risk-free rates and funding ratios are lower. Specifically, the paper’s […]