Pension Pulse

Sean Conlon and Brian Evans report stocks close lower, but S&P 500 notches its 4th winning month in a row: Stocks fell on Friday as investors took some money off the table into a long weekend following a new S&P 500 record and solid Nvidia  earnings this week. New inflation data showed rising prices was still a risk heading into the new month. The S&P 500 ended the day 0.64% lower at 6,460.26, but still scored its fourth winning month in a row. The Nasdaq Composite  shed 1.15% to finish at 21,455.55, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average  lost 92.02 points, or 0.20%, to settle at 45,544.88. Core PCE, a key inflation measure watched by the Federal Reserve which excludes the costs of food and energy, increased 2.9% in July , in-line with expectations but an acceleration from the prior month and the highest level since February. “The Fed opened the door to rate cuts, but the size of that opening is going to depend on whether labor-market weakness continues t...

CPP Investments posted a clip where Heather Tobin, Senior Managing Director & Global Head of Capital Markets and Factor Investing, shares insights on the role of disciplined absolute return strategies in long-term oriented portfolios. This clip is orientated towards regular Canadians who never invested in a hedge fund or don't know what absolute return strategies are and she gives a nice overview in 4 minutes. One thing I will recommend to CPP Investments is it post a transcript that accompanies these short clips (yeah, I'm lazy, I read faster than I watch and it would make my life easier). Anyway, Heather does a great job giving a quick overview of what her team does at CPP Investments stating this: The department runs a highly diversified global portfolio across two core strategies. The first core strategy is our External Portfolio Management Program . This team invests in public market managers across a broad range of global asset classes and strategies. The second t...

James Bradshaw of the Globe and Mail reports  AIMCo earns 2% first-half return as clients seek to reduce risk-taking: Alberta Investment Management Corp. earned a 2-per-cent return in the first half of the year, rebounding from a volatile first quarter that has prompted the pension fund manager’s clients to shift toward lower-risk investments. AIMCo’s investment gain through June 30 was modest when compared with a 5.4-per-cent gain in the same six months last year. Its balanced fund, which reflects a typical mix of client assets, earned 2.1 per cent, according to a midyear update the pension fund manager released on Wednesday. After a tough start to the year for markets, marked by turmoil from constantly shifting tariffs levied by the United States, AIMCo and its clients are “quite pleased with a positive return year-to-date,” chief investment officer Justin Lord said in an interview. A second-quarter rebound in stock markets helped keep AIMCo’s returns positive, and...

Sarah Rundell of Top1000funds reports on BCI's masterclass in private debt: British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI), the C$295 billion ($214 billion) asset manager for public sector bodies in Canada’s western most province, oversees a C$20 billion ($14.5 billion) allocation to private debt in a strategy that is defined by a few key characteristics: a large and growing allocation to co-investments, an avoidance of mega deals and an expansion into Europe and APAC. Around 65 per cent of the private debt allocation is direct or in co-investments via partnerships with external firms, which although not unique, sets BCI apart from many other investors and reaps benefits like diversification, deeper relationships, deal selectivity and lower fees. “Not everyone can do direct or co-investments but having an overall portfolio of 65 per cent in direct and co-investments is a high number, and we are looking to do more,” says Daniel Garant, executive vice presiden...

Amalya Dubrovsky, Karen Friar and Laura Bratton of Yahoo Finance report  Dow jumps 800 points to record, S&P 500, Nasdaq soar as Powell's Jackson Hole finale fuels bets on September rate cut: US stocks soared on Friday as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell opened the door to a September rate cut during his highly anticipated speech at Jackson Hole. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 800 points or 1.9% to close at a fresh record, while the S&P 500 moved up about 1.5%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.9%. Friday's surge came on the heels of a downbeat week for markets, as tech stocks took a hit amid AI trade doubts . His remarks shook up rate-cut bets, which had been waning after a weak monthly jobs report. Traders on Friday were pricing in about 91.5% odds of a September cut compared to 70% earlier in the morning and 85% a week ago. Meanwhile, the 10-year and 30-year Treasury yields fell after Powell's remarks. The comm...