Pension Pulse

Last week, I discussed IMCO's private equity deployment and big governance problem , noting this at the end: Now, IMCO and Craig Ferguson.  He's doing his job and a good job and he's right: "Our program is designed to continue to grow with a focus on investing consistently across vintage years' of private equity while seeking attractive risk-adjusted returns, investing alongside our best-in-class partners with deep sector expertise." You need to diversify by sector, geography, vintage year and co-invest alongside world-class partners to reduce fee drag in good and especially bad times. Every major pension fund in Canada has roughly the same approach (OMERS is a bit more unique doing more direct deals on its own in recession proof industries). They invest in "best-in-class" PE funds all over the world and co-invest to reduce fee drag. Craig Ferguson even gave an exclusive interview to Buyouts on how rocky fundraising may help normalize PE mod...

Tamara Close, founder and Managing Partner of Close Group Consulting , sent me a guest comment on how Canadian pensions can (re)gain their global leadership position in sustainable investing: 1.  The state of play in ESG: where we are and how we got here While ESG was a somewhat niche term a decade ago, it would be rare to find a manager or allocator of capital today who has not heard of the term. However, while the integration of material ESG issues at its core is about widening the aperture you look through when assessing an investment for both expanded due diligence and value creation, there is no clear consensus on how, where, or when to integrate environmental, social and governance issues into an investment process, if at all. South of the border, ESG has even become part of the political agenda, and the attempts to lump together the ESG mandate with a “woke” agenda is an example of how far from the intention of value-creation and risk-mitigation the ESG narrative has ...

Carmen Reinicke and Hakyung Kim of CNBC report the Dow closes more than 100 points higher on Friday, but notches third straight week of losses on rate fears:  U.S. stocks were mixed on Friday as stubbornly high inflation and a rebound in rates continued to weigh on investor sentiment. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 129.84 points, or 0.39% to end at 33,826.69. The 30-stock index rallied from lows of the day boosted by shares of Amgen and United Health , which gained 2.69% and 2.41% respectively. The S&P 500 shed 0.28% to end the day at 4,079.09, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.58% to close at 11,787.27. Energy was the biggest laggard. Devon Energy dropped 4.29%, dragging down the S&P 500. Yields on the 10-year and 2-year U.S. Treasury bonds hit levels not seen since November, weighing on equities early in the session. Stocks are mixed on the week. The Dow ended down 0.13% for the week, its third negative week in a row — a first since September. The S&P 50...