Pension Pulse

Sean Conlon and Pia Singh of CNBC report the S&P 500 closes higher, notching four-day win streak and nearing record after light inflation reading: The S&P 500  edged higher on Friday, securing its fourth straight winning day, as traders digested inflation data that could provide further incentive for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates next week The broad market index closed 0.19% higher at 6,870.40, putting the index about 0.7% off its intraday record. Friday also marked its ninth positive session in 10. The Nasdaq Composite  increased 0.31% to settle at 23,578.13, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average  climbed 104.05 points, or 0.22%, to end the day at 47,954.99. The market sorted through a fresh slate of economic releases Friday. The Commerce Department said that the core personal consumption expenditures price index for September – which was delayed due to the record-setting U.S. government shutdown – showed an annual rate of 2.8% , lower t...

Jacques Poitras of the CBC reports  N.B. pension fund managers accused of costing tech investors millions: The company that manages billions of dollars in pension funds for thousands of New Brunswick public sector employees and retirees is being accused of causing financial losses for hundreds of investors across Canada. Fredericton-based Vestcor Inc. and one of its senior executives are the targets of a petition filed in British Columbia that is seeking court approval for a class-action lawsuit. The company is accused of falsely inflating the value of a corporate merger between two technology companies. Vestcor invests the pension contributions of New Brunswick civil servants and other public sector employees in various investment vehicles, including stocks. According to the petition application, Vestcor was the majority shareholder in Exro Technologies, and “orchestrated and significantly influenced” Exro’s 2024 merger with SEA Electric Inc., in which Vestcor also owned...

On Tuesday, OMERS Private Equity announced the sale of CBI Health’s home care business to Extendicare: Transaction delivers value to OMERS members and positions company for expanded patient care Toronto — OMERS Private Equity is pleased to announce that Paramed Inc. , a wholly-owned subsidiary of Extendicare Inc. (TSX: EXE) has signed an agreement to acquire CBI Health LP’s (“CBI Health”) home care business, which operates under CBI Home Health LP (“CBI Home Health”). The closing of the transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2026 pending final regulatory and related approvals. Since its acquisition of CBI Health in 2011, OMERS Private Equity has worked closely with the leadership team to grow the company into one of the largest providers of integrated health care services, including physiotherapy, rehabilitation services and home care services. CBI Home Health, the company’s home care division, has also experienced remarkable growth, expanding ...

The Globe and Mail published an article from GTA's Top Employers on how UPP is focused on building an intentional culture: Most veteran employees have clocked decades with their company. For Nirupa Muthurajah, it’s only taken three years to earn that title at the University Pension Plan Ontario (UPP), Canada’s newest defined benefit pension. When the fund offered her a job in 2022, Muthurajah says it was an easy yes. After a decade in institutional investing at two large Canadian “Maple Eight” pensions and a local family office, she found that UPP’s mission to provide retirement security for university-sector employees resonated with her. Plus, she was getting in on the ground floor. “What excited me most was the chance to make an impact at the ground level and shape the foundational framework from the very beginning,” said Muthurajah, UPP’s director and equity strategies lead for active public markets. Part of laying the foundation is building an “intentional” cultu...

Last week, I had a Teams meeting with  Rhynhardt Roodt , Ninety One's head of the 4Factor investment team and co-portfolio manager of the Global Equity and Global Strategic Equity strategies. Rhynhardt was in Winnipeg visiting clients and I had a chance to talk markets with him and get into their strategy.  I want to thank Ninety One's Jeannie Dumas for setting up the meeting as well as Katherine Tweedie who co-heads the North America Institutional Client Group at Ninety One, and participated on the call. To begin with, Jeannie sent me this in her initial email:  Rhynhardt is Head of 4Factor at Ninety One, which has just reached its 25 year anniversary as has the Global Equity Strategy , which currently sits at $25.4 billion AUM as at 30 September 2025 .  Additionally, I have included a few bullets from his 2026 outlook which he is currently pulling together: Looking ahead to 2026 Divergent fiscal and monetary cycles and the durability of the AI investmen...