Pension Pulse

Kieran Smith and Mary McDougall of the Financial Times report top bosses depart Canadian pension fund after Thames Water fiasco: One of Canada’s biggest pension funds has parted ways with two top infrastructure executives after writing off its stake in Thames Water and the souring of another high-profile European investment. Alastair Hall, senior managing director for Europe, and Chris Hogg, a director who led the firm’s digital infrastructure investments, have left Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System in recent weeks, according to three people familiar with the matter. The exits follow struggles at two of Omers’ top investments. Hall, who joined in 2014, was involved in the fund’s investment in Thames Water. The fund was the utility’s largest shareholder and wrote off its entire 31 per cent stake in 2024. Hogg, who joined in 2023, was one of the lead executives on Deutsche Glasfaser, a heavily indebted German broadband provider now scrambling to secure its financi...

Quratulain Tejani of EQD Intelligence reports inside HOOPP’s total portfolio thinking; Jacky Lee talks approach, widespread adoption: Total portfolio approach, once an academic framework, is becoming the go-to operating system for large asset owners grappling with a more fragmented, inflation- prone world. MAIN TAKEAWAYS TPA has existed for decades, but adoption is accelerating as allocators reassess whether stable correlations, mean reverting growth and long run risk premia still hold HOOPP’s portfolio won’t drastically change if the long term outlook hasn’t changed, but when it does, the total portfolio framework ensures they are prepared Boards define risk guardrails while investment teams position the portfolio Total portfolio approach, once an academic framework, is becoming the go-to operating system for large asset owners grappling with a more fragmented, inflation-prone world. Jacky S. Lee, senior managing director and head of total portfolio managem...

Rian Howlett , Karen Friar and Laura Bratton of Yahoo Finance report the Dow closes above 50,000 for the first time as stocks soar to cap volatile week:  US stocks rebounded on Friday from a weeklong tech bruising as Wall Street reassessed worries about the impact of AI disruption and the risks of hefty Big Tech spending. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ^DJI ) led the way higher, surging by about 2.5%, or more than 1,200 points, to climb ahead of the 50,000 level for the first time. The S&P 500 rose 2% in its best session since May of last year. The Nasdaq Composite added about 2.1%, as the indexes bounced back from Thursday's sharp closing losses and a week's worth of selling pressure. Wall Street is ending the week with a bounce back, as Big Tech CEOs and analysts brushed aside concerns about the impact of new AI tools on legacy tech. The Dow ended the week with a gain of 2.5%, but the benchmark S&P 500 and the Nasdaq closed the week in the red. ...

Matt Toledo of Chief Investment Officer reports  Norway’s sovereign wealth fund returned 15.1% in 2025: Norway’s sovereign wealth fund saw strong performance in equities and energy infrastructure in 2025. The Government Pension Fund Global, managed by Norges Bank Investment Management, reported a 15.1% return last year, with fund assets reaching 1.526 trillion kroner ($2.228 trillion). The fund’s return was 28 basis points lower than its benchmark index, according to an NBIM  statement  released Thursday.  “The fund delivered very strong results in 2025,” NBIM CEO Nicolai Tangen said in a statement. “Stocks in technology, financials and basic materials stood out, making a significant contribution to the overall return.”  The fund allocated 71.3% of its assets to publicly listed equites, 26.5% to fixed income and 1.7% to real...

James Bradshaw of the Globe and Mail reports  CEO’s payout, workplace relationship spur upheaval at Ontario pension plan: Senior executives at CAAT, a $23-billion Ontario pension plan, raised concerns about the approval of an unusually large payout to the plan’s chief executive officer, setting in motion a governance crisis that has resulted in abrupt departures and scrutiny from the provincial regulator, according to sources. Board chair Don Smith was recently suspended from his position on the board of trustees at the CAAT Pension Plan by the union that appointed him, three sources told The Globe and Mail. The Globe spoke with eight sources familiar with the matter to understand what caused recent upheaval in CAAT’s senior ranks. The Globe is not identifying the sources because they are not authorized to discuss the matter. CAAT is a multiemployer pension plan that serves Ontario’s colleges and more than 800 public- and private-sector employers. It has a total of abo...