Pension Pulse

David Milstead of the Globe and Mail reports that Alberta pension manager AIMCo loses 4 per cent in second quarter: Alberta Investment Management Corp. reported a 4-per-cent loss in the quarter ended June 30, leading to a 6.8-per-cent loss totalling $9.8-billion in the first six months of 2022. AIMCo is the latest Canadian pension plan to detail how roiling world markets so far this year have dented its portfolio. But for the pension plans, it could have been worse: Royal Bank of Canada’s RBC I&TS All Plan Universe saw defined benefit pension plan assets – as measured by a typical mix of publicly held stocks and bonds – shrink by 14.7 per cent through June 30. AIMCo said its performance beat the performance of its benchmark – a portfolio of similar assets it uses to measure its performance – which showed a 5.3-per-cent loss for the quarter and a 7.9-per-cent loss for the six months. “Often when the stock markets take a hit, there is shelter in the bond markets, but t...

Luigi Serenelli of IPE reports Canada’s top pension funds plan infrastructure investments in Germany: The largest pension funds in Canada, with assets under management of over C$1trn (€766bn) , plan to step up investments in Germany following a meeting with German chancellor Olaf Scholz and vice chancellor Robert Habeck last week during a three-day visit . Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), with total assets worth C$392bn as of June this year, would like to invest more in Germany, with a particular focus on infrastructure, a spokesperson for the pension fund told IPE. Investments in infrastructure will address the broader energy transition while CDPQ can generate growth, contributing to a more sustainable world, the spokesperson added. Charles Emond, president and chief executive officer, and Marc-André Blanchard, executive vice president and head of CDPQ global, and global head of sustainability, represented the pension fund at a meeting with Scholz during hi...

Jack Mintz wrote a comment for the National Post on why he thinks we shouldn't add ESG to pension plan woes: Investors know it has been a tough market so far this year. They can take some solace from the fact that pension funds have also taken a hit in their returns. As of June 30, Canada’s four big public pension funds — CPP Investment Board, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Ontario Teachers Plan and Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (or CPPIB, CDPQ, OTPP and OMERS) — had incurred $53.4 billion in losses. Of the four the Caisse did worst, with a minus 7.9 per cent return on its portfolio (see table). Pension funds have done well over the years so their recent difficulty is far from being a crisis. On the other hand, governments meddling in financial markets may turn this year’s lackluster results to be repeated down the road. Pension funds have shifted strongly to long-term investments in private equity, infrastructure, and real estate. Illiquid asse...

Jennifer Ablan of Pensions & Investments reports on why Bridgewater’s Rebecca Patterson thinks the Fed is in an unenviable position and risks its credibility in the fight against inflation: Rebecca Patterson, chief investment strategist at Bridgewater Associates , the world's largest hedge fund, sat down with Pensions & Investments for its relaunch of Face to Face , the brand's popular Q&A interview, featuring the best minds on Wall Street. In an exclusive discussion at Ms. Patterson's Manhattan home (with her cat Thor making a guest appearance), she talked about her "humbling" first 2 1/2 years at Bridgewater, known for its culture of radical transparency famously infused by billionaire founder Ray Dalio. Since its founding, Bridgewater has grown to about $150 billion in discretionary client assets as of Dec. 31. Ms. Patterson, one of the most powerful women on Wall Street, said Bridgewater's institutional investors are bracing for ...