Pension Pulse

Hannah Miao and Jesse Pound of CNBC report the S&P 500 rises Friday, posts second winning week in a row: The S&P 500 rose Friday to close out a winning week even as investors weighed interest rate hikes and war in Ukraine. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 153.3 points, or 0.4%, to 34,861.24. The S&P 500 added 0.5% to close at 4,543.06. The Nasdaq Composite dipped about 0.2% to 14,169.30. All three major averages notched second consecutive winning weeks. The Dow ticked up 0.3%. The S&P 500 gained 1.8%, and the Nasdaq rallied nearly 2% week to date. The S&P 500 is now up about 3.9% higher in March, more than erasing its losses since Russia invaded Ukraine late last month. The rebound has come even as the war in Ukraine continues and interest rates shoot higher, with the Federal Reserve is set to hike rates several more times this year. “Equities are rallying despite a hawkish Fed and stagflation concerns, as many believe there is no alternative to sto...

Goldy Hyder, President and CEO of the Business Council of Canada sat down with John Graham, President and CEO of CPP Investments to discuss investing in Canada's future: John Graham has a clear mandate. As CEO of Canada Pension Plan Investments, he oversees the retirement savings of 20 million Canadians, with the goal of achieving the highest possible returns without undue risk. And yet in a volatile and unpredictable world, his challenge is anything but simple. Take, for example, the fund’s investments in the energy sector. Recently CPP Investments committed to achieving a net-zero portfolio by 2050 . But that doesn’t mean it is divesting its holdings in Canada’s oil and gas industry. “We believe fundamentally in a path of engagement,” Graham tells Goldy Hyder in the Speaking of Business podcast. “Divesting takes responsible owners away from the table. Divesting basically puts these assets in the hands of people who may not have the same values.” Graham says C...

Diane Peters of University Affairs reports Ontario’s joint pension plan is growing, less than a year after its inception: When the University Pension Plan (UPP) – which amalgamates pensions from the University of Toronto, Queen’s University and the University of Guelph – went live in July 2021, it boasted assets worth over $11 billion and 35,000 members. And already, the newly minted pension has a new addition, which UPP CEO Barbara Zvan calls a “big milestone.” Trent University’s faculty association voted to transfer its pension last May and officially joined in January 2022. (The university hopes to gain approval to move its staff pension plan to the UPP in the future.) Solvency deficits in pension funds have been an ongoing problem for Ontario universities. Trent has long been concerned about its own pensions, said president Leo Groarke . “When I came to Trent seven years ago, the number one item on the risk agenda was pension liabilities,” he said. When the idea of a ...

Trevor Cole of the Globe and Mail reports on Jo Taylor’s bold vision for the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan: "Go Big or Go Home": If there are a few hundred thousand Ontarians who’ve slept more soundly than the rest of the province for the past 32 years, it’s because their retirements have been funded in part by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. Ever since the provincial government handed the management of teachers’ pensions to an outside body in 1990, about the only time members have had cause to consider the wizardry behind the curtain is when the plan has changed wizards. In 2020, Jo Taylor made everyone aware that someone new was in charge at Teachers when, after taking over from Ron Mock, he announced he wanted the plan to make “bolder and bigger” investments. The U.K.-born Taylor, who had run the plan’s London office for eight years, then said he wanted Teachers to be more “entrepreneurial” and started talking about its “brand.” The plan hasn’t been this...

Jason Magder of the Montreal Gazette reports planners of the REM de l'Est put project on hold:  Facing criticism from urban planners , heritage activists , the region’s transit authority and the city’s mayor , the planners of the city’s most expensive transit project will go back to the drawing board. The Caisse du dépôt et placement du Québec said Thursday it put the controversial $10 billion REM de l’Est project on hold, as it has not yet met the social acceptability needed for a project of such importance. Destined to be presented for public hearings at the Bureau d’audiences publiques sur l’environnement this spring, the project is now on hold indefinitely so planners can respond to criticisms of the project. That means the project likely won’t be delivered by the original target of 2029. “With the magnitude of a project like the REM de l’Est, which is essential for the east and northeast of Montreal, we place great importance on all partners adhering to a commo...