August 2019

02Aug

The Fracking Industry Is in Debt. Retirement Funds Are Helping Bail It Out.

Ayear ago, Chesapeake Energy, at one time the nation’s largest natural gas producer, announced it was selling off its Ohio Utica shale drilling rights in a $2 billion deal with a little-known private company based in Houston, Texas, Encino Acquisition Partners. For Chesapeake, the deal offered a way to pay off some of its debts, incurred as its former CEO, “Shale King” Aubrey McClendon, led Chesapeake on a disastrous shale drilling spree. Shares of Chesapeake Energy, which in the...

August 2, 2019
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July 2019

26Jul

Canada. Positive returns for pension funds in second quarter of 2019

Morneau Shepell (MSI.TO) has released the results of its Performance Universe of Pension Managers' Pooled Funds for the second quarter of 2019. According to the report, in the second quarter of 2019, diversified pooled fund managers posted a median return of 2.2 per cent before management fees. Since the beginning of the year, the return has been 11.1 per cent. "In general, markets posted positive returns in the second quarter, continuing the rebound started early in the year. The FTSE Canada...

July 26, 2019
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23Jul

Canada. Unique retirement planning strategies needed for defined-benefit pension plan members

For people who have a defined-benefit (DB) pension plan through their employers, years of compulsory saving may eliminate much of the uncertainty around how much to set aside for retirement. But these pension plans are only part of an overall financial picture and can be subject to change, underscoring the need for financial advisors to prepare their clients for all possibilities. According to recent data from Statistics Canada, DB plans accounted for two-thirds of registered pension plans in 2017....

July 23, 2019
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22Jul

Canada’s pension fund OMERS seeks new green energy deals

Canadian pension fund Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System (OMERS) is scouting for acquisition opportunities in India, in an affirmation of the country’s position as a green energy hot-spot. With net assets of more than $100 billion under management, OMERS has been attracted by the presence of other Canadian investors in India such as Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and Brookfield Asset Management. This comes at a time when India’s emerging...

July 22, 2019
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June 2019

28Jun

Canada. A new paradigm for pension plans

The single-employer pension plan model is dying. We do not need to mourn its demise, but we do need to replace it. In a recent report published by the C.D. Howe Institute, we promote the implementation of new private-sector pension plans in Canada based on a better governance model. Rather than being sponsored by single employers, the new plans would be sponsored by multiple employers and governed by independent management boards that include representation from all stakeholders. Scale is...

June 28, 2019
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May 2019

29May

Canadian pension fund Caisse replaces lending unit CEO after ethical failures

Canada’s second-largest pension fund said on Tuesday it had replaced the chief executive and overhauled the board of its commercial real estate lending unit, after an outside investigation found ethical failures by a handful of employees. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, which managed C$310 billion ($230 billion) at the end of 2018, named Rana Ghorayeb as the CEO of Otera Capital, replacing former chief executive Alfonso Graceffa who left earlier this year, the real estate lending unit...

May 29, 2019
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24May

Economic Growth and the Public Sector: A Comparison of Canada and Italy, 1870-2013

By Livio Di Matteo, T. P. Barbiero There is considerable evidence that the size of the public sector can influence an economy’s rate of economic growth. We investigate public sector spending of central governments and economic performance in two G7 countries over the long-term, Canada and Italy. Their economic performance has diverged in the last 25 years and it is worth investigating whether the size of government was a contributing factor. We find that in both the case of...

May 24, 2019
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16May

CDPQ invests in WeWork property platform

Launch of new ARK garners US$1bn. The We Company, parent of workspace provider WeWork, said on Wednesday it has created a US$2.9 billion real estate investment platform with funding from one of Canada's largest pension funds, building on ties with private equity firm the Rhone Group. The platform, called ARK, has gained US$1 billion from Canada's Ivanhoe Cambridge, the property arm of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, the Montreal-based company said. WeWork, founded in 2010, is now...

May 16, 2019
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14May

Canada. Mark Evans appointed director of CPPIB

Mark Evans, a former Goldman banker and veteran tech investor, is joining the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) as a director for a three-year term, the Department of Finance Canada announced Monday. Evans spent 15 years with Goldman Sachs until 1999, before working as an investor in the tech sector with various firms. He is currently working with several early stage tech companies. Evans has a BA in economics from Queen’s University and a master’s in economics from...

May 14, 2019
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April 2019

30Apr

Canada. Morneau Shepell releases the results of its Performance Universe of Pension Managers’ Pooled Funds

Morneau Shepell (TSX: MSI) has released the results of its Performance Universe of Pension Managers' Pooled Funds for the first quarter of 2019. According to the report, in the first quarter of 2019, diversified pooled fund managers posted a median return of 8.3 per cent before management fees. "The FTSE Canada Universe Bond index posted a return of 3.9 per cent and the Canadian Equity S&P/TSX Composite index posted a return 13.3 per cent. The U.S. Equity S&P 500...

April 30, 2019
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