Pension Pulse

Earlier today, CPP Investments' CEO, John Graham, delivered his first public speech and spoke with BNN Bloomberg's Amanda Lang at a Canadian Club Toronto virtual event which I embedded  at the end of this post. John spoke about why they're embracing the hybrid model, why he's a big believer in diversification, why they take climate change seriously but are not divesting from fossil fuels, why venture capital offers exciting opportunities, why they still like logistics, are beefing up risk management and a lot more.  He even answered some poignant questions on diversity and inclusion at CPP Investments (my only comment is we need to move past just gender diversity to a broader focus on diversity, which Amanda noted, much to her credit).  Why a virtual return to the office could be a win/win for people and employers https://t.co/wGQsi4pgxD via @WTW_uk — Leo Kolivakis (@PensionPulse) June 22, 2021 I'm going to let you watch that discussion below but

David Milstead of the Globe and Mail reports Ontario Teachers Pension Plan CEO aims for a bolder, ‘entrepreneurial’ future: Jo Taylor, CEO of Ontario Teachers ' Pension Plan for the past 18 months, wants the fund manager to be bolder. More entrepreneurial. Dare we, or he, say it: ballsier. "Teachers has had a history of being quite ballsy, right, at times," Mr. Taylor said Wednesday in his first lengthy Canadian interview. "Look at when it bought [real estate company] Cadillac Fairview. That's a pretty brave bet, but it did it many years ago. And the returns we made from Cadillac Fairview have been great over a long period of time." Mr. Taylor said the fund's history can be broken into three stages. The first, under founding chief executive officer Claude Lamoureux and chief investment officer Robert Bertram, was "where they were very entrepreneurial, kicking things off super well in terms of growing the business." Next came CEOs

Yun Li and Tanaya Macheel of CNBC report the Dow falls more than 500 points to close out its worst week since October: Stocks fell on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting its worst weekly loss since October, as traders worried the Federal Reserve could start raising rates sooner than expected. The blue-chip average dropped 533.37 points, or 1.6%, to 33,290.08. The S&P 500 slid 1.3% to 4,166.45. Both the Dow and S&P 500 hit their session lows in the final minutes of trading and closed around those levels. The Nasdaq Composite closed 0.9% lower at 14,030.38. Economic comeback plays led the market losses. For the week, the 30-stock Dow lost 3.5%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq were down by 1.9% and 0.2%, respectively, week to date. St. Louis Federal Reserve President Jim Bullard told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Friday it was natural for the Fed to tilt a little “hawkish” this week and that the first rate increase from the central bank would likely come in 2022. H

New research from HOOPP and Abacus Data released today show two of three Canadians have saved nothing for retirement during COVID, retirement tops list of worries: Most Canadians have not set aside anything for retirement in the past year (63%) which is up 5% since last year, according to the third annual Canadian Retirement Survey  from Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) and Abacus Data. The survey also found a widespread belief that better access to workplace pensions is needed to avoid a retirement crisis. The findings, based on an April 2021 survey of 2,500 Canadians, affirm there is a high level of anxiety among Canadians about their ability to save for retirement. Half (48%) said they are “very concerned” about not having enough money in retirement. This was more than concern for one’s own physical health (44%), mental health (40%), debt load (31%) and job security (26%). (Retirement was the second greatest concern, after daily cost of living.) “After more th