Pension Pulse

Amalya Dubrovsky , Karen Friar and Ines Ferré of Yahoo Finance report the Dow plunges 2,200 points, Nasdaq enters bear market as Trump tariffs spark worst meltdown since 2020:  US stocks cratered on Friday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ^DJI ) plunging more than 2,200 points after China stoked trade-war fears and Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned of higher inflation and slower growth stemming from tariffs. The Dow pulled back 5.5% to enter into correction territory. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 ( ^GSPC ) sank nearly 6%, as the broad-based benchmark capped its worst week since 2020. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ( ^IXIC ) dropped 5.8% to close in bear market territory. The major averages added to Thursday's $2.5 trillion wipeout after China said it will impose additional tariffs of 34% on all US products from April 10 — matching the extra 34% duties imposed by Trump on Wednesday. That ramped up investor worries that countries are more likely to retaliate than ne...

James Bradshaw of the Globe and Mail reports AIMCo investments gained 12.3% in 2024 but missed benchmark: Alberta Investment Management Corp. reported a 12.3-per-cent return across its funds in 2024 but fell short of its internal benchmark of 13.8 per cent, capping off a year that ended in turmoil when Alberta’s government dismissed the pension fund manager’s board and CEO. AIMCo’s balanced fund – which reflects a typical mix of assets for its 17 client funds, which have varying objectives and tolerance for risk – gained 12.6 per cent in the year that ended Dec. 31, falling short of its benchmark of 13.4 per cent. Over a four-year span, however, AIMCo earned an average of 7.8 per cent annually and added $35-billion to the fund, beating its benchmark over that period by 1.7 percentage points. That raised the fund’s average return over 10 years to 7.4 per cent. AIMCo invests on behalf of 17 pension, endowment, insurance and government clients in Alberta. Its total assets i...

Kevin Brueninger of CNBC reports more than 180 countries and territories facing reciprocal tariffs: President Donald Trump on Wednesday laid out the U.S. “ reciprocal tariff ” rates that more than 180 countries and territories, including European Union members, will face under his sweeping new trade policy. Trump and the White House shared a series of charts on social media detailing the tariff rates they say other countries impose on the U.S. Those purported rates include the countries’ “Currency Manipulation and Trade Barriers.” An adjacent column shows the new U.S. tariff rates on each country, as well as the European Union. Those rates are, in most cases, roughly half of what the Trump administration claims each country has “charged” the U.S. The reciprocal rates are not necessarily the only U.S. tariffs these countries will face. The White House told CNBC’s Eamon Javers on Wednesday that the new reciprocal rate on China will be added to existing tariffs totaling 20%, m...

James Thai, co-founder and portfolio manager at Advantage Capital Strategies Group, a Toronto-based sustainable investing firm wrote an op-ed for the Globe and Mail stating in this trade war, pension funds should also buy Canadian: Recently, during my visits to the local grocery store, I’ve observed a recurring trend: Shoppers picking up a product, peering closely at the label and then putting it back with a frown or wrinkled nose. I can tell what they’re thinking: That’s not made in Canada! I’ll exchange a knowing nod to acknowledge we’re doing our part as consumers to fight back against an economic attack on our country. Now it’s time for our country’s world-class pension funds to do the same. It is the perfect time to put that American stock back on the shelf and buy Canadian. This isn’t a new idea. At the beginning of March, 2024, an open letter by executives pushed for our pension funds to invest more in Canada. Across a wide range of industries, business leaders suc...