Pension Pulse

Maggie Fitzgerald of CNBC reports the S&P 500 falls Friday, notches second straight week of losses in September slump: Stocks dipped on Friday as investors remain cautious due to a resurgent Covid virus, a Federal Reserve meeting next week and a historical tendency for September to be a weak month for equities. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 166.44 points or 0.5% to close at 34,584.88, dragged down by a nearly 2.9% drop in Dow Inc. The S&P 500 shed 0.9% to 4,432.99 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.9% to close at 15,043.97. Mega-cap technology stocks were mostly in the red, with social media giant Facebook dropping 2.2% and Alphabet falling just shy of 2%. Apple lost 1.8%, and Microsoft slipped 1.7%. The Food and Drug Administration advisory committee on Friday rejected a plan to administer booster shots of Pfizer and BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine to the general public. Pfizer fell 1.3% and BioNTech dropped 3.6%. Moderna lost 2.4%. History is not on the market’s side wi

Paul Bagnell of BNN Bloomberg reports that Peter Letko blasts pension funds' lack of Canadian companies and calls for 'sanity check': Large Canadian pension funds should be investing more of their assets in Canadian equities, a top executive at a leading Canadian investment management firm told BNN Bloomberg Tuesday. The firm, Letko Brosseau, has published a statement in which it criticizes the trend of declining investments in Canadian stocks by the country’s large pension plans. In an interview, Peter Letko, senior vice-president at Letko Brosseau, said the firm was “shocked” at a recent decision by a Canadian union which uses Letko Brosseau as its pension fund manager. The union had changed its investment policies to require just two-to-three percent weighting in Canadian equities – down from the 40 per cent threshold it had maintained for years. “Quite frankly, we were surprised, if not a little shocked, at this announcement,” Letko said. Letko Brossea

The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) just appointed Michael Wissell as the new CIO, effective immediately: The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) is pleased to announce the appointment of Michael Wissell as its new Chief Investment Officer (CIO), effective today. He takes over CIO responsibilities from HOOPP President and CEO Jeff Wendling, who has been serving both roles since becoming CEO in March 2020. Michael has a long track record of market leadership and innovation in public and private markets, asset allocation and portfolio construction. Since joining HOOPP more than three years ago he has been an important part of HOOPP’s Executive Leadership team and Investment Management division, serving as Senior Vice President, Capital Markets & Total Portfolio. He has helped foster a culture of innovation and brought forward new investment strategies that have helped HOOPP continue to succeed on behalf of its members, even in the most challenging of m

Ontario Teachers’ put out a press release starting it has reached an agreement to become a significant shareholder in Greenstone: Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (Ontario Teachers’) announced today it has reached an agreement to acquire a 33.4% interest in Greenstone, one of Australia and New Zealand’s leading insurance distributors. Headquartered in Sydney, and established in 2007, Greenstone has focused on developing simple and affordable life and general insurance products for Australians and New Zealanders. This positioning has enabled Greenstone to quickly become a leader in the direct distribution of insurance products with over 650,000 in force policies. Its unique customer-focused and technology-driven approach has earned the Company extensive industry awards and recognition. Ontario Teachers’ investment represents a full exit by co-founder Gavin Donnelly, while the other two major shareholders, HIBV, and CDPQ, a global investment group, will sell-down p

AIMCo recently put out a press release on how alongside New Forests, it acquired Lawson Grains from Macquarie Asset Management:  Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), on behalf of certain of its clients, is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Lawson Grains alongside partner New Forests, from the agricultural investment management business of Macquarie Asset Management. The agreement follows the successful conclusion of a public tender process. Lawson Grains is one of Australia’s leading corporate grain growers, comprising a 90,500 arable hectare agricultural land estate across New South Wales and Western Australia. It is one of Australia’s largest grains and oilseeds businesses, producing over 200,000 tonnes per year of wheat, barley, canola and pulses. Under the transaction there will be no significant changes to the Lawson Grains management team in its Albury headquarters, or to current on-farm management, teams or living