April 2023

Canada’s Biggest Pension Fund No Longer Bullish On Crypto After $95 Million FTX Wipeout

According to the Financial Times, Canada’s largest single-profession pension plan has learned its lesson after investing in crypto exchange FTX and will not be making any hasty decisions regarding future cryptocurrency investments. After losing $95 million in a now-defunct crypto exchange, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is no longer bullish on cryptocurrency investments. Several prominent funds invested in FTX between 2021 and 2022, just before the exchange’s eventual demise. Pension Plan No Longer Bullish On Crypto According to chief executive Jo Taylor,...

March 2023

Canada to Ask Pension Funds to Disclose Crypto Exposure

Canada's national government said federally regulated pension funds in the country will need to disclose their crypto assets exposure to the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), as Ottawa tightens its regulatory oversight on the volatile industry. "To help protect Canadians’ retirements, Budget 2023 announces that the government will require federally regulated pension funds to disclose their crypto-asset exposures to OSFI," the government said in the new 2023 budget plan. The federal government will also work with provinces...

Canadian pension funds embrace ESG

Large Canadian pensions are making “impressive” progress on sustainable investments, according to the second annual Canadian Pensions Dashboard for Responsible Investing. The report examines the progress major Canadian pension funds have made in integrating ESG factors into their governance from 2020 to 2022. In just one year, the number of funds that have made public net-zero portfolio emission commitments by 2050 or sooner has grown from two to nine, which now accounts for or $1.8 trillion or 81% of total...

Canada Pension Plan to invest in California oil venture alongside IKAV

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP) agreed on Tuesday to buy a 49% stake in Aera Energy, a California oil venture being acquired by German asset manager IKAV from Shell (SHEL.L) and Exxon (XOM.N). The venture, California's second-largest oil and gas producer, will invest in renewable energy to eventually power its operations, the institutional investor said. "Over time, renewable power will be deployed across Aera's land holdings, while selected legacy oil and gas infrastructure will be repurposed to create carbon capture...

February 2023

Canada’s CDPQ is slammed by bond rout in worst year since 2008

The historic bond market rout did not spare the Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, causing the pension manager to post its worst results since the global financial crisis. Canada’s second-largest public fund lost 5.6 per cent and saw net assets fall to $402 billion (US$297 billion), down $18 billion from the prior year. Its fixed-income portfolio was shredded by the rapid rise in interest rates, falling almost 15 per cent. The result would have been much worse if not...

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board returns net 1.9% in latest quarter

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board returned a net 1.9% in the third quarter of fiscal 2023 ended Dec. 31, the Toronto-based board announced in a news release Thursday. For the five-year and 10-year periods through Dec. 31, the fund delivered annualized net returns of 8.1% and 10%, respectively. Neither benchmark returns nor returns for individual asset classes are not provided in quarterly returns. CPPIB, which manages the assets of the Canada Pension Plan, also said the pension fund's net assets increased to...

January 2023

‘Voluntary action alone isn’t going to cut it’: watchdog group calls for climate reporting requirements for Canada’s $4-trillion pension fund industry

After highlighting “a huge disparity” among Canada’s largest pension funds when it comes to reporting and action on climate priorities, a watchdog group is calling for broad-based regulation for the financial sector that would “level the playing field” and require Canada’s giant pension funds to produce credible climate plans, and be held accountable for meeting them. Adam Scott, executive director of the climate-focused charitable initiative Shift, told The Hill Times that his team’s analysis shows some Canadian funds are “making...

December 2022

Canada’s biggest pension plan, CPPI, ends crypto investment pursuit

Canada's biggest pension fund, CPP Investments, has ended its effort to study investment opportunities in the volatile crypto market, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. The reasons behind CPPI's abandonment of crypto research were not immediately clear. CPPI declined to comment but said it has made no direct investments in crypto. It referred to previous comments on cryptocurrency by its CEO, John Graham, in which he sounded a note of caution. Read also Swedish pension funds invest in cryptocurrency CPPI's...

Canada Pension Plan funds war and climate change

The Canada Pension Plan (CPP) manages $539 billion on behalf of over 21 million working and retired Canadians, making it the seventh largest pension plan in the world. The CPP Investment Board (CPPIB) however is accountable first and foremost to the federal and provincial governments, not the contributors and beneficiaries. A webinar  “What is the CPPIB Really Up To?” was hosted earlier this year by the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute, Just Peace Advocates, World BEYOND War and several other organizations....

November 2022

Canada. Are longevity fund solutions going to change the retirement income game?

Over the past few years, Canada’s investment fund industry has sought to revolutionize Canada’s retirement-planning landscape with the introduction of innovative products. In 2021, Purpose Investments launched the Longevity Pension Fund, while Guardian Capital introduced its own GuardPath Longevity Solutions earlier this year. While they don’t offer estate-planning guarantees, both go beyond the scope of traditional mutual funds by tapping into mortality credits, an idea that was first explored through the use of tontines in the 16th century. As the fund...