Pension Pulse

The Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) released its 2020 Annual Report today. AIMCo issued a press release back in April going over its 2020 performance when it announced the appointment of Evan Siddall as Chief Executive Officer: Despite the global economic impact of COVID-19, AIMCo earn a total fund return of 2.5% net of all fees, on behalf of its clients. Since inception, AIMCo has earned more than $70 billion in net investment income on behalf of its clients, contributing to the well-funded status of Alberta’s public sector pension plans and generating significant income for the Alberta Heritage Savings Trust Fund, the proceeds of which have benefited all Albertans. “AIMCo is a long-term investor, in alignment with the objectives of our clients, and accordingly our performance is gauged by investment returns measured in decades, not years. Nevertheless, a year like 2020, where so many asset classes declined in near unison, erasing the typical benefits of...

Leslie Picker of CNBC reports the head of the second-largest US public pension fund says active managers rarely added value: The hedge fund model has been under attack for decades, at least since the financial crisis, but assets under management continue to surpass records. Christopher Ailman oversees the nation’s second-largest public pension fund, CalSTRS, with $300 billion under management. Here he is, in conversation with Leslie Picker, on the high price of delivering alpha.  The content below has been edited for length and clarity. Leslie Picker: Chris, I want to ask you point blank, in your estimation, do active managers deliver alpha? Christopher Ailman: I have been hiring active managers since the mid-1980s, and at very different funds. Now, they were all government plans so that may be a caveat I have to add. Our active managers in U.S. equities added value, and they did produce alpha, but not after fees. And that’s the critical point. I think alpha is expensiv...

The Canadian Press reports that CPP Investments and AIMCo will invest an additional $2.4 billion in BAI Communications: Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Alberta Investment Management Corp. are investing an additional $2.4 billion in BAI Communications to help the wireless infrastructure company grow. CPP Investments is the majority shareholder in BAI, while AIMCo is a minority investor. BAI announced a deal Monday to buy Mobilitie, the largest privately held telecommunications infrastructure company in the United States. It says the deal is a major expansion of its business in North America where it provides cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity across large infrastructure projects. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the third quarter of this year. BAI also recently announced a new partnership with Transport for London in Britain. CPP Investments put out a press release on this deal:  Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (“ CP...

Yun Li and Maggie Fitzgerarld of CNBC report the S&P 500 climbs to another record led by bank shares, notches its best week since February: U.S. stocks rose on Friday with the S&P 500 building on its rally to records, as investors bet that higher inflation will be temporary as the economy continues to recover from the pandemic. The broad equity benchmark climbed 0.3% to hit another closing record high of 4,280.70. Financials were the best-performing S&P 500 sector with a 1.3% gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 237.02 points, or 0.7%, to 34,433.84, sitting less than 2% from its record. The Nasdaq Composite erased earlier gains and closed 0.1% lower at 14,360.39 amid a rise in bond yields. The 10-year Treasury yield jumped 4 basis points to 1.52%. The S&P 500 rallied 2.7% for the week, notching its biggest weekly gain since early February. The Dow gained 3.4% this week for its best week since mid-March, while the Nasdaq advanced 2.4%. Friday’s rally ...