Pension Pulse

Silas Brown and Kat Hidalgo of Bloomberg report Florida pension to offload up to $4 billion of private credit: The Florida State Board of Administration is looking to sell a bundle of private credit stakes worth as much as $4 billion in what would be one of the largest deals of its kind, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The pension fund is looking to offload between $3 billion and $4 billion as it seeks to cut exposure to higher-yielding opportunistic credit and invest more in mainstream direct lending, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. The deal may end up being less than that range, and could be broken up into a series of sales where funds have the option of picking parts of the portfolio, the people said . “The SBA is always evaluating opportunities to reposition investments in the fund, and to shift between strategies when those decisions can optimize our portfolio and maximize return,” Emily Percival, the Flo...

Thomas Gualtieri and Dinesh Nair of Bloomberg report  Canadian pension funds ready €7 billion sale of Cubico: Canada’s Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and PSP Investments are about to kick off the sale of renewable energy company Cubico Sustainable Investments, according to people with knowledge of the matter.  The two pension funds are working with Bank of America Corp. and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce on a potential transaction, the people said. The owners are considering seeking a valuation of €7 billion ($7.6 billion) or more for London-based Cubico, the people said. They are prioritizing a full divestment, although some potential bidders could be interested in only some of the assets, the people said, asking not to be identified as the plan isn’t public. Cubico operates clean-energy assets in Spain, Italy, Greece, the UK, the US, Mexico, Uruguay, Colombia and Australia. The company will likely draw interest of large sovereign wealth funds, one of the pe...

Bloomberg’s Paula Sambo recently interviewed Ryan Chin, Managing Director, Balance Sheet & Liquidity Management, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), and Brandon Weening, Executive Vice President, Corporate & Capital Markets Finance, OMERS, at the 2024 Bloomberg Canadian Finance Conference to discuss the challenges and opportunities shaping their investment strategies. This is an excellent interview which I embedded below because it showcases top talent from HOOPP and OMERS that we don't typically hear much from and  it once again demonstrates the incredible bench strength at these organizations. Both Ryan and Brandon are really smart guys who know their stuff and it's worth listening to their views below keeping in mind their respective functions. Ryan handles balance sheet and liquidity management at HOOPP and as he explains, he deals with the less risky part of the overall portfolio to make sure there's plenty of liquidity to invest in risk assets when o...

Canaccord Genuity's Martin Roberge and Francois Trahan of Trahan Macro Research presented their views at a luncheon yesterday at the St-James Club in Montreal to raise money for ANEB Quebec , an organization that provides support for people suffering from eating disorders. Even though my back has been killing me the last couple of weeks (I have to write about the ups and downs of spinal fusion surgery), I got out of my bubble and attended the event and was very happy I did as it's a great cause and these are my two favourite strategists. I asked both gentlemen to provide me with their presentations afterwards and they were kind enough to oblige. Francois was up first, presenting the bearish case. I am not going to go through his whole presentation but provide you with some key points and slides. He began by noting there was an unusual amount of Fed tightening for today's investor: And then stated the last 5 recessions began when the yield curve started steepening: This is...

James Bradshaw of the Globe and Mail reports the Ontario government plans governance review at pension fund manager OMERS: The Ontario government is launching a governance review of the province’s largest pension fund for municipal employees, responding to pressure from associations representing police and firefighters that complained of a perceived lack of transparency from one of the pension plan’s two boards of directors. The review will examine how effective the governance model for the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) has been. It will also look at decision-making processes, the composition and effectiveness of two separate boards that oversee OMERS, and the level of engagement with employees and employers. The review was ordered in August by Ontario’s Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister, Paul Calandra, and revealed publicly at an annual update OMERS gave to Toronto city councillors on Wednesday. Over the summer, multiple associations represen...

Medora Lee of USA Today reports on which country has the best retirement system and it's not the US: The U.S. retirement system received a C+ grade again this year, but its score dropped for a second year in a row in a new ranking of global retirement systems. The U.S. system, which is funded mostly by individual retirement accounts (IRA), 401(k)s and  Social Security , came in 29th out of 48 countries, according to the Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index, released Monday. Its overall score dipped to 60.4 out of 100, down from 63.0 last year and 63.9 in 2022. It was also below the overall average of 63.6. U.S, scores declined in every subcategory – adequacy,  sustainability  and integrity – that make up the overall score. But the largest drag was from adequacy, which includes benefits provided by the current pension systems, and design features that can potentially improve the likelihood that adequate retirement benefits are provided. The U....