Pension Pulse

Joel Dryden of CBC News reports Alberta to explore leaving CPP as report lays claim to $334B, more than half of fund: The Alberta government released a long-awaited report Thursday on the possibility of establishing an Alberta-only pension plan, claiming the province is entitled to a staggering $334-billion asset transfer from the Canada Pension Plan in 2027. That's more than half of the fund's estimated total net assets . The third-party report, compiled by consultant LifeWorks, attributes the figure to Alberta's high employment rates, young population, and higher pensionable earnings, which it claims has meant the province has sent billions more into the CPP compared to what it has received. Withdrawing from the CPP could potentially mean the rest of the country would end up paying more for their pension contributions (though Trevor Tombe, an associate professor of economics at the University of Calgary, said it's not mechanically guaranteed ). Quebec woul

Kenneth Chan of the Daily Hive reports Vancouver's new tallest office tower, and Canada's greenest, officially opens: Construction officially reached completion on The Stack in late 2022, and an official opening celebration and ribbon cutting ceremony was held today. Located mid-block at 1133 Melville Street, just west of Thurlow Street within downtown Vancouver’s Central Business District, this is now Metro Vancouver’s tallest office building, with a height of 530 ft containing 37 storeys . The Stack is also one of the region’s single largest office buildings, carrying a total floor area of 550,000 sq ft of premium AAA-calibre office space. Ernst & Young (EY) is the building’s anchor tenant, with its corporate logo sign installed at the top of the tower to signify its major presence. Other tenants include BDC, Blakes, DLA Piper, Canacoord Genuit, Fluor, and Plenty of Fish. Most of the building’s leasing was secured over the past year, which provides an example

James Bradshaw of the Globe and Mail reports Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan chief investment officer to depart at the end of December: Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan chief investment officer Ziad Hindo is leaving the pension fund manager at the end of the year after five years in the role. Teachers’ named Stephen McLennan, an executive managing director in charge of the total fund management arm, as acting head of investments. That role is effective immediately, and starts a transition of responsibilities for leading the investment division from Mr. Hindo to Mr. McLennan. Mr. McLennan will assume leadership of all of Teachers’ investment activities. Mr. Hindo will formally step down Dec. 31 after 23 years at Teachers’. He took over as CIO in June, 2018, under previous chief executive Ron Mock. In the five years since then the fund posted net returns of 7 per cent with assets increasing from about $190-billion to $247-billion. Under his watch, Teachers’ also increased its

Palash Gosh of Pension & Investments reports CPPIB adds to private equity mandate with Northleaf Capital: Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Toronto, committed an additional C$200 million ($147) million to the Canadian private equity market through an evergreen Canadian midmarket mandate managed by Northleaf Capital Partners. A CPPIB spokesperson said the name of the fund is Canadian Fund-of-Funds V and that as an evergreen mandate, it's an additional commitment to a customized mandate with the pension fund. Since the private equity investment partnership between CPPIB and Northleaf was established in 2006, Northleaf now manages a total of C$2.4 billion in Canadian private equity investments on behalf of CPPIB, a Sept. 14 news release said. Northleaf's mandate for CPPIB focuses on maximizing net returns through primary fund investments in small- and midmarket Canadian buyout and growth funds, secondary investments and direct co-investments, the news relea