Pension Pulse

Dave Seglins of the CBC reports amid 'Buy Canadian' fervour, Canada's top pension funds still heavily invested in U.S.: For all the fear over the U.S. trade war and President Donald Trump's threats to Canadian sovereignty, this country's biggest pension funds remain heavily invested in the U.S. The Canada Pension Plan (CPP), the largest pension fund in the country, announced this week that it has grown to a record $780.7 billion in assets, with 47 per cent invested in the U.S., compared to only 13 per cent in Canada.  That level of U.S. ownership hasn’t budged in the year since Trump retook office, according to third-quarter results released on Friday. The CPP’s U.S. assets have grown steadily since 2005, when Ottawa removed a cap on foreign holdings in Canadian pensions and RRSPs. The CPP now has $366 billion invested in the U.S., compared with $98 billion in Canada. A CBC analysis found the CPP is not alone among the "Maple Eight," the biggest ...

Innes Ferré of Yahoo Finance reports on 'the dark side of AI', Wall Street weighs recent stock sell-off over disruption fears: The stock market just got a look at how disruptive investor concerns over AI could become across multiple industries. What began as a shake-up in software stocks spread to the wealth management, transportation, and logistics industries last week, raising questions about just how deeply AI could transform not only tech but also high-fee service businesses. The S&P 500 ( ^GSPC ) and Nasdaq Composite ( ^IXIC ) both ended the week down more than 1% as Financial Services ( XLF ), Consumer Discretionary ( XLY ), and tech stocks sold off on AI concerns. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ^DJI ) was down 1.2% for the week, while the Nasdaq Composite ( ^IXIC ) dropped 2% and the S&P 500 ( ^GSPC ) slipped 1.4% "That's the dark side of AI," Innovator Capital Management chief investment strategist Tim Urbanowicz told Yahoo Finance. ...

James Bradshaw of the Globe and Mail reports  CAAT puts CEO on leave, names new chair and vice-chair amid governance crisis: The CAAT Pension Plan has placed chief executive officer Derek Dobson on administrative leave, installed an acting CEO and appointed a new chair and vice-chair to its board of trustees as a governance crisis at the $23-billion pension plan has spurred an overhaul of its leadership. Mr. Dobson is being sidelined, effective immediately, after some of the plan’s top executives raised concerns about his conduct as well as oversight by CAAT’s board of trustees, setting off multiple investigations into possible governance failures. Kevin Fahey, who was promoted to chief investment officer in late January, has been appointed as CAAT’s acting CEO and plan manager, CAAT said in a statement on Friday. The pension plan also named trustee Audrey Wubbenhorst as its new board chair, and Janet Greenwood as vice-chair. Previous board chair Don Smith was removed ...