Pension Pulse

Sean Conlon and Tobias Burns of CNBC report  Nasdaq falls on Friday as Nvidia sells off, but index notches best week since August: The Nasdaq Composite  fell on Friday as Nvidia  shares added to their recent losses, though the index still notched a winning week alongside the other two major averages. The tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 0.91% to 25,136.27, while the S&P 500  slid 0.4% to 7,561.67. The Dow Jones Industrial Average  eked out a gain of 50.46 points, or 0.1%, to end at 52,347.55. Equities initially popped after October’s producer price index reading — a measure of wholesale inflation — showed an increase of 0.3% on the month. Economists polled by Dow Jones had seen headline PPI rising 0.4%. However, the report also showed producer prices gaining 6.5% from 12 months earlier — the biggest annual advance since November 2022 . Nvidia shares weighed on the broader market for another day. The stock fell 2% Friday, extending the more than 4% drop it saw in t...

Sebastien Betermier, McGill Finance professor and Executive Director of International Centre for Pension Management (ICPM) moderated a discussion last week here in Montreal featuring Bernard Morency, former SVP Depositors at La Caisse and Ramy Rayes, EVP, Investment Strategy and Risk at BCI. He posted this on LinkedIn over the weekend:   If you have an hour to spare this weekend, I highly recommend watching the Symposium held last Friday at McGill University. Bernard Morency and Ramy Rayes shared a wealth of insights on how to unlock the full potential of funded pension systems. Some key takeaways: *** Funded pension systems do more than provide retirement income security. They also strengthen economic resilience by giving governments greater fiscal capacity to respond to major challenges. *** Funded systems create a virtuous cycle. As assets grow, funds can take on more controlled risk, expanding into new asset classes and progressing from purchasing comp...

James Bradshaw and Bill Curry of the Globe and Mail report  Ottawa taps Bridgewater executive to lead sovereign wealth fund: Karen Karniol-Tambour, the co-chief investment officer at U.S.-based hedge fund manager Bridgewater Associates, has been named as the first CEO of the Canada Strong Fund. Prime Minister Mark Carney first announced the fund in April, which he described as Canada’s first national sovereign wealth fund . It will have an initial capital commitment of $25-billion. Once launched, it will invest on commercial terms in nation-building projects and will also make direct investments in projects and companies that are viewed as strategic investments. Prime Minister Mark Carney has named Karen Karniol-Tambour, a fast-rising Wall Street hedge fund executive with Canadian roots and Bay Street relationships, as the first CEO of the Canada Strong Fund. Ms. Karniol-Tambour, a Canadian citizen, has been co-CIO at U.S.-based hedge fund manager Bridgewater Associates since 2023....

James Bradshaw of the Globe and Mail reports  CPPIB to lay off dozens of employees at struggling active equities division: Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is laying off dozens of employees from its active equities division and will merge the department with another unit after several years of underperformance, two sources with knowledge of the decision said. The cuts affect a large part of the department’s employees, though a majority of staff will stay on and some of the affected employees may find roles in other departments, the sources said. Frank Ieraci, a senior managing director who led the active equities division since 2020, and joined CPPIB in 2007, is among the employees who are departing, the sources said. The Globe and Mail is not identifying the sources because they were not authorized to discuss internal CPPIB decisions. The active equities strategy will be merged with CPPIB’s capital markets and factor investing division, which is led by senior managing director...

James Bradshaw of The Globe and Mail reports  PSP Investments to pay $1.6-billion for 50% stake in Brookfield’s Enercare: Public Sector Pension Investment Board is paying $1.6-billion to acquire a 50-per-cent stake in Ontario-based home services company Enercare Inc. from Brookfield Asset Management Ltd., betting on essential services as a hedge against a potential rise in inflation. Brookfield took Enercare private in 2018 in a deal worth $4.3-billion including debt. Since then, PSP Investments has had a small, passive stake in the company as a co-investor with Brookfield, and is now taking over joint ownership with Brookfield. Markham, Ont.-based Enercare rents and sells equipment such as water heaters, furnaces, air conditioners and water purifiers, as well as protection plans to cover them, to more than 1.4 million homes and businesses in Canada. The company has a leading market share in Ontario. Since Brookfield took the company private, it has expanded its services into Queb...