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Showing posts from January, 2025

DeepSeek and Potential Trade War Weigh on Markets

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Jeff Cox of CNBC reports Trump tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China begin Saturday, White House says: In an apparent ending to weeks of intense speculation, the White House confirmed Friday that President Donald Trump will be leveling aggressive tariffs this weekend on major U.S. trading partners. Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said Trump will be implementing 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada as well as a 10% duty on China, in retaliation for “the illegal fentanyl that they have sourced and allowed to distribute into our country.” The White House provided few details on exactly how the levies will be meted out, saying that they will be available for public inspection at some point Saturday. The news sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average down more than 300 points, or about 0.7%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both turned in losses as well. All three major benchmarks were up solidly earlier in the day. “These are promises made and promises kept by the pr...

Alberta Setting Up New Crown Corp to Oversee Heritage Savings Trust Fund

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Lisa Johnson of the Canadian Press reports on a how Alberta is setting up a new Crown corporation to oversee Alberta’s Heritage Savings rainy day fund:  Alberta Premier Danielle Smith announced a new Crown corporation Wednesday to oversee the province’s rainy day fund. The Heritage Fund Opportunities Corporation is to direct policy for the Heritage Savings Trust Fund , which will still be managed by the Alberta Investment Management Corp., or AIMCo. The new Crown corporation is also mandated to independently manage the investment of new deposits. Smith said she aims to grow the fund to at least $250 billion by 2050 in order to wean the province off the resource revenue roller-coaster. “No matter how far into the future, there will come a time that we may be unable to rely on those revenues, and we cannot hide from that reality now,” the premier said in Calgary. The fund’s assets were valued at $23.4 billion as of September, and the government pledged another $2 billion t...

CPP Investments' CIO on Why They Are Cutting Back on Emerging Markets

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Sarah Rundell of Top1000Funds reports on why CPP Investments CIO Ed Cass says they are cutting back on emerging markets: CPP Investments, the C$675.1 billion asset manager for the Canada Pension Plan, has already hit its reduced long-term strategic exposure to emerging markets of 16 per cent in a quick paring back of the allocation from 2023 levels when emerging markets accounted for 22 per cent of assets under management.   Edwin Cass, chief investment officer at CPP Investments tells Top1000funds.com that although the investor still believes there is both an opportunity to diversify and generate alpha in emerging markets because of inefficiencies, that window of opportunity is narrowing. “This is changing over time due to a number of factors, including geopolitical risk and improving market efficiency,” he says. On one hand, deglobalisation can be positive for emerging market investors because it adds to diversification by decoupling relationships between various tra...

On AIMCo's Latest DEI Shakeup

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Layan Odeh of Bloomberg reports AIMCo cuts DEI role and 18 other jobs in further shakeup: Alberta Investment Management Corp. eliminated 19 jobs in non-investment areas, months after the government of the province ordered changes at the pension fund manager and fired its chief executive and the board. The employee responsible for AIMCo’s diversity, equity and inclusion program is one of the 19, according to people familiar with the matter. A spokesperson for the firm confirmed the job cuts and said the move hasn’t lessened AIMCo’s commitment to “an equitable and inclusive workplace.” “All AIMCo colleagues will continue to share the responsibility and accountability for ensuring AIMCo remains diverse, inclusive, innovative and motivating, in keeping with our corporate objectives and core values,” spokeswoman Carolyn Quick said by email. Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner stunned AIMCo executives on Nov. 7 by firing chief executive Evan Siddall , other senior executives and...

OTPP's Jo Taylor on Hunting Where Others Don't Tread

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Layan Odeh of Bloomberg reports Ontario Teachers’ CEO sees chance to snap up cheap European assets: Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan is turning more attention to European markets as other investors remain fixated on the U.S., its chief executive officer said. “A lot of the Americans at the moment are actually saying, ‘I only want to be in the US,’” Jo Taylor said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “To me, that’s great news — I’ll just fill my boots in Europe.” His bullish remarks on Europe come as the $255.8 billion (US$178 billion) fund searches for new ways to protect capital after pouring significant money into the US. Taylor also sees opportunity in “active private markets” such as infrastructure, private equity and credit.  “I’m a great believer in going to hunt where the others don’t want to tread,” he said. The Toronto-based pension fund had 17% of its investments in Europe, including the U...

The Bank of Japan is Behind The Inflation Curve

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Rita Nazareth of Bloomberg reports the S&P 500 sees best start for a President since 1985:  A relentless rally in stocks took a breather near all-time highs, but the market still notched its best start to a presidential term since Ronald Reagan was sworn in to power in 1985. While a rout in chipmakers weighed on trading Friday, the S&P 500 still climbed 1.7% this week. That was after President Donald Trump talked up policies to boost the economy and lower taxes, while appearing to soften his stance toward tariffs on China — even as he continued to threaten sweeping action. The dollar saw its biggest weekly drop since November 2023. The MOVE Index of expected Treasury volatility hit the lowest since about mid-December. “It is early days, but nothing that President Donald Trump has said or done has caused a bad reaction in financial markets,” said Chris Iggo at AXA Investment Managers. “Quite the contrary. It is paying to stay invested.” A test to that risk-...