Pension Pulse

It was a cold, rainy and dreary weekend in Montreal. Perfect for staying in, watching movies and political news shows (I'm a junkie). I also caught up on a lot of reading on markets, politics and health. If you're not following me on Twitter (@PensionPulse), you're totally missing out on a lot of great articles I post there (post in spurts). Twitter is great because I simply can't cover everything on my blog, nor do I want to. Not a fan of Facebook, never created an account and doubt I ever will because I'm not into gossip. In fact, I couldn't care less about other people's personal stuff unless it is my close family and friends and then I prefer picking up the old telephone to see how they're doing. As far as professional contacts, just use LinkedIn , it's fantastic to keep up-to-date on people, topics of interest and employment opportunities. As you can see I'm procrastinating. I've read and seen so much in the last few days that I simpl...

Katya Wachtel of Reuters reports, Hedge fund assets reach record levels in Q1 : Investors poured billions of dollars into hedge funds in the first quarter, helping to send total industry assets into record territory, data released Thursday shows. Investors allocated a net $16 billion to hedge funds in the first three months of the year, according to Hedge Fund Research, which tracks industry flows and performance. With the new capital, as well as average gains of about 5 percent for hedge funds in the first quarter, total industry assets reached $2.13 trillion, HFR found. An earlier record was set halfway through 2011, when total capital invested with hedge fund managers hit $2.04 trillion. In one of its worst annual performances in history, hedge funds lost about 5 percent in 2011. However, the industry seemed to get its groove back in the beginning of 2012 as global equity and credit markets rallied, and managers recorded the best first quarter of performance in five years. "Inv...

Tara Perkins of the Globe and Mail reports, Ontario urged to extend pension coverage : Some members of the business community are taking Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan to task over his decision not to plow ahead with new savings plans Ottawa is seeking to create. Perrin Beatty, CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Catherine Swift, CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, and Frank Swedlove, head of the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, sent Mr. Duncan a letter Thursday, encouraging him to “proceed as quickly as possible with the establishment of Pooled Registered Pension Plans.” “The Federal Government has introduced PRPP legislation that will be passed shortly,” the letter states. “Quebec announced a regime equivalent to PRPPs, called VRSPs, in their recent budget. It is time for Ontario now to step up to ensure that Ontario residents, particularly those who work for small and medium sized businesses, can reap the benefits of a ...

Jack Mintz, Palmer chair, School of Public Policy, University of Calgary, wrote an op-ed article for the Financial Post, Tackle the pension crisis now : Monday’s Nanos poll is a sharp reminder that many Canadians are quite concerned about their personal financial security. Yet they are optimistic about the strength of the economy and real estate markets. Go figure. Maybe it is all the talk of government austerity, which is a far cry from what is badly needed in the United States or Europe, where events are making markets nervous once again. Certainly, several legacy issues around pension issues continue to raise their rather horrid heads in public debate. A recent report of the Mercer index of pension funds shows that the average assets to liabilities ratio of Canadian pension funds is 63%, which is well below fully funded levels. Pressures continue to impact on employers providing retirement income plans for their workers and governments should make sure their regulations...

The fully funded Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan ( HOOPP ) did it again, returning 12.2% in 2011 with assets now topping $40 billion : With returns of 12.19 per cent in 2011, the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan ended the year 103 per cent funded . For the first time, HOOPP’s net assets surpassed the $40 billion mark. HOOPP President & CEO Jim Keohane credited HOOPP’s liability driven investing (LDI) strategy for the plan’s solid funded position. This strategy was developed in the early 2000s and its purpose is to ensure that HOOPP’s investments will surpass the growth in the future pensions owed to members, also called the plan’s liabilities. “HOOPP’s benefits are fully funded. This means that we have sufficient resources to pay every pension owed to the membership – not just now but into the future too,” says Keohane. HOOPP has a long history of being well funded, having been at least 96 per cent funded in every valuation for over 30 years. While superior investment retu...

Adele Ferguson of Australia's The Age reports, Private equity funding a real estate revival : Glenn Rufrano may have jetted into Australia to give evidence in the Centro Properties court case, but his main worry as current global head of Cushman & Wakefield is monitoring the outlook of the global property market. When he was boss of Centro, Rufrano learned a lot about debt refinancing as he had to refinance more than $5 billion of bank debt within weeks. Private equity turned out to be a godsend. It replaced an Australian syndicate of 23 banks and life companies. It is a similar story in the United States, where debt of hundreds of billions of dollars is due to mature this year. Cushman & Wakefield is making a killing helping broker the refinancing, and private equity is a key player. ''We go to the banks and offer to bring in private equity partners, which will provide 10 to 15 per cent in additional capital, and if they say ...