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Pandemic Fears Strike Wall Street

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Fred Imbert and Eustance Huang of CNBC report the Dow falls 350 points to cap the worst week for Wall Street since the financial crisis:
Stocks tumbled once again on Friday, adding losses to the market’s worst week since the financial crisis, as worries over the coronavirus and its impact on the economy continue to rattle investor sentiment.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 357.28 points, or more than 1%, to 25,409.36. The 30-stock Dow briefly fell more than 1,000 points then rallied into the close in a wild trading session characteristic of the week. The S&P 500 slid 0.8% to 2,954.22. The Nasdaq Composite closed flat at 8,567.37 but fell as much as 3.5% on the day.

For the week, the Dow fell more than 12% — its biggest weekly percentage loss since 2008. On a points basis, the Dow fell more than 3,500 points, far and away its largest weekly point loss ever. It also ended the week in correction territory, down 14.1% from an intraday record high set Feb. 12. The S&P 500 …
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Norway's Pension Soars 20% in 2019

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Alicia McElhaney of Institutional Investor reports that Norway's massive pension fund returned 19.9% last year:
Norway’s government pension fund had a banner year in 2019, returning a whopping 19.9 percent.

The Government Pension Fund Global announced its annual returns on Thursday, noting that 2019 was a record year in terms of returns measured in Norwegian krone. The pension fund, which managed a total of 10.09 trillion kroner (USD$1.1 trillion) through the end of 2019, said it returned 1.69 trillion kroner for the year, according to an announcement.

"2019 has been a great year in the fund’s history, driven by positive equity returns in all of the fund’s principal markets and in all equity sectors,” said Yngve Slyngstad, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management, the bank that manages the fund.

According to the pension fund, the percentage-point return for the year was its second-best since 1998. This amounts to a turnaround for the fund, which lost 485 billion kroner in …
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OTPP's Innovative Deal With New Gold

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Aoyon Ashraf and Paula Sambo of Bloomberg News report Ontario Teachers' signs US$300M investment deal with New Gold:
New Gold Inc. surged after forming an unusual partnership with Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan that gives the miner US$300 million in exchange for selling a portion of the free cash flow from its flagship operation.

Miners often sell rights to future production called streams, as well as royalties, to help finance development of big projects.

But in the agreement announced Tuesday with the Canadian pension fund, New Gold will sell a 46 per cent free cash flow interest from its New Afton mine over four years. After the term ends, Teachers’ has the option to convert it into a 46 per cent joint venture interest in the British Columbia mine, while New gold retains an “overriding” right to buy back the stake under certain conditions.

Investors showed their approval by pushing shares of the Vancouver-based miner up as much as 16 per cent in Toronto, the most since July, on …
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Trouble at CDPQ's Ivanhoé Cambridge?

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André Dubuc of La Presse wrote an article today stating the cleanup has commenced at Ivanhoé Cambridge, the Caisse's real estate subsidiary. The article is in French so I translated it using Google and edited where necessary:
Ivanhoé Cambridge has terminated the employment of the manager in charge of shopping centers in the wake of disappointing results produced by the real estate subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.

Claude Sirois, President, Retail, left the organization ten days ago, Ivanhoé Cambridge spokesman Sébastien Théberge confirmed to La Presse.

"The position of President, Retail has been abolished," wrote Mr. Théberge in an email. To enable us to succeed in an increasingly complex and constantly changing market, we must be more agile, simplify our organization and bring teams together."

Mr. Sirois was appointed President, Retail in May 2016. He joined the organization in January 2005. He holds a Bachelor of Administration from McGill …
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OMERS Gains 11.9% in 2019

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Today, OMERS reported its 2019 results, gaining 11.9% last year: 2019 Highlights
Net return of 11.9% or $11.5 billionFunded status of 97%Net assets of $109 billion OMERS, the defined benefit pension plan for Ontario’s municipal employees, reported a 2019 investment return of 11.9%, net of expenses. The 2019 performance exceeds last year’s net return of 2.3%, which was impacted by more challenging stock market conditions. OMERS funded status on a smoothed basis improved to 97% in 2019.

“Our high-quality, well-diversified portfolio produced strong results for our members in 2019,” said Michael Latimer, CEO, OMERS. “All asset classes generated positive returns, led by public equities. Over the past five years, we have earned $9.8 billion of net investment income over the amount required to fund our pension obligations.”


“OMERS funded status has improved for the seventh consecutive year,” said Jonathan Simmons, CFO. “The 2019 improvement in our funded status primarily reflects our five-yea…
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