Pension Pulse

Amalya Dubrovsky and Brett LoGiurato of Yahoo Finance report the Nasdaq plunges 4%, Dow and S&P 500 sink as AI trade halts on Fed hike bets: US stocks fell sharply on Friday, with tech leading the way down after May's jobs report blew past expectations, while a rotation out of tech stocks and chipmakers continued. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ^DJI ) fell 1.3%. The benchmark S&P 500 ( ^GSPC ) sank 2.6%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ( ^IXIC ) plunged by over 4.1%, with shares of Nvidia ( NVDA ) falling 6%. The May jobs report far exceeded expectations, with US employers adding 172,000 jobs last month, well above economists' expectations of around 88,000. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%. But the strong report also fueled bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike at some point this year, as the  labor market stabilizes  amid high inflation. Traders are now fully pricing in a rate hike from the central bank by the end of the year, eve...

The Canadian Press reports  CPP Investments expands partnership with buy-now-pay-later lender Affirm: TORONTO — The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has signed a deal to renew and expand its partnership with buy-now-pay-later lender Affirm. Under the two-year agreement, CPP Investments will commit US$1.7 billion to buy Affirm instalment loans. It also has the ability to increase the commitment to US$2.2 billion. CPP Investments has purchased nearly US$14 billion in Affirm assets since 2019 through forward-flow agreements and asset-backed securitizations. Paras Vira, head of Americas structured credit at CPP Investments, says Affirm has consistently produced the kind of credit performance the fund looks for in a long-term partner. CPP Investments invests the money not needed to fund current Canada Pension Plan benefits.  Earlier today, CPP Investments announced it will renew and expand its capital partnership with Affirm:  SAN FRANCISCO, CA & TORONTO, ON — ...

Andres Gonzalez of Reuters reports  Canada's OMERS sells 25% stake in Spanish energy logistics firm Exolum: LONDON, May 22 (Reuters) - Canadian pension fund OMERS has agreed to sell its  ​25% stake in Spanish energy ‌logistics company Exolum to European real assets investment firm Stoneshield Capital and another ​investor.   The following details are from ​a joint statement on Friday: Stoneshield ⁠will buy a 15% stake in ​Exolum, after having acquired close ​to 5% in January. The second investor, which was not named, will acquire the ​ remaining 10% from OMERS. Financial terms ​were not disclosed. In December, OMERS carried out ‌a €770 ⁠million refinancing of its Exolum stake. Exolum, which transports, stores and distributes refined oil products, bulk liquids and ​aviation ​fuels, owns ⁠a 6,000 km (3,728 mile) pipeline network in Spain ​and Britain. It serves more than ​48 ⁠airports and has over 2,300 staff. The deal is expected to close in ⁠the ​third quarter of ...

Alan Livsey of the Financial Times reports  Canada’s Maple revolutionaries in pensions feel the strain: Shortly after she took over as UK Chancellor, Rachel Reeves offered some advice to the UK pension industry — “learn lessons from the Canadian model and fire up the UK economy”. She was on her way to Toronto to meet the bosses of the country’s top pension plans, so perhaps a little flattery ahead of time made sense. Reeves went to visit them for good reason. For more than 30 years, Canada has been a model for pension funds around the world. Now it is more common for pensions to invest in alternative assets such as private assets and hedge funds. But Canada led the way, with its pension funds often taking direct stakes in companies or assets and managing more of them internally rather than just relying on external managers. As a 2012 Economist article on the “Maple revolutionaries” reported, “they own assets all over the world, including property in Manhattan, utilities ...

Freschia Gonzales of Pensions and Benefits Monitor reports  Ontario's university pension fund stays fully funded through a turbulent year Ontario's university sector pension plan closed 2025 fully funded with a surplus and $13.5bn in net assets, despite a year shaped by geopolitical tension, trade uncertainty, and elevated long-term interest rates.  University Pension Plan Ontario (UPP) posted a 5.2 percent total fund net return and a three-year annualized return of 8.5 percent, ending the year 103 percent funded on a smoothed basis with a $0.3bn surplus, according to its 2025 annual report.   Net assets grew from $12....