Articles
Published By: Gary Greenberg, Kunjal Gala, Christopher Clube & Jasper Wright | March 12, 2020
The tension over inequality between growth and social justice in emerging markets is rising across most of the world and remains a contentious issue that has helped fuel the resurgence of populism in Europe and North America. It has also risen in emerging markets after China, Russia, and India all liberalized their economies, say Gary Greenberg, head of emerging markets; Kunjal Gala, co-portfolio manager, pooled products and segregated mandates; Christopher Clube, an investment analyst; and Jasper Wright, an analyst, all of Hermes; in the article GEMOLOGIST: Inequality: the tension between growth and social justice in emerging markets at the Benefits and Pensions Monitor website. They examine how the striking extent of inequality in major emerging markets challenges their political stability and growth potential. They also take a look at the conventional wisdom supporting efforts seeking an end to inequality and question whether the pursuit of this ideal should be abandoned in favour of more grounded, pragmatic causes that can improve the lot of many without disrupting society.
Published By: | March 5, 2020
A key question in terms of climate change and global warming is how can capital markets be corrected so that they amplify rather than undermine the ambition within the Paris Agreement, says Steve Waygood, chief responsible investment officer at Aviva Investors. In the article How Capitalism Can Help Solve The Climate Crisis ,’ he says recent years have seen huge progress in the thinking in this area, through work by the UN, World Bank, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the European Union, Financial Stability Board (FSB), and the national governments of the UK, Canada, Norway, China, Singapore, and Malaysia. Yet while these initiatives are welcome, they will be ineffective unless they are part of a more globally co-ordinated strategy and response. This is why establishing an International Panel on Climate Finance (IPCF) could play a vital role, he says.
Published By: TD Asset Management Inc. | February 18, 2020
The low volatility anomaly had been observed and documented more than 40 years ago, but with the strong equity markets in the 1980s and 19902, few asset managers dared exploit that academic evidence. That changed in 2009 when TD Asset Management launched its first low vol. This year, it marks its 10th year of offering these products.
Published By: Benefits Alliance | February 10, 2020
Almost 20 years have passed since private drug plans in Canada first experienced claims for high cost biologic drugs. They quickly came to represent a sea-change in both medical practice (due to their effectiveness) and drug plan management (due to their costs). The Benefits Alliance Group invited some of its members to participate in an educational session and roundtable discussion on key issues in drug plan management for high-cost drugs, with a focus on biologics and biosimilars.
Published By: Iain Campbell of Baillie Gifford. | January 17, 2020
Investors today need to be cognizant of the growing movement to short-termism, says Iain Campbell, investment manager at Baillie Gifford. In ‘Avoiding Noise Reduces Short-Term Thinking (create a link here),’ he says the market is in part to blame because of its hyperactivity where money managers are expected to outperform constantly.
Published By: Tyler Mordy | October 29, 2019
I first travelled to China in 1993 (full disclosure: I was a trumpet nerd on tour with my school’s concert band). Back then, it was a blur of bulldozers, a dizzying amount of people and some ill-timed food poisoning … serious culture shock for a small-town kid from British Columbia.
Published By: Randy Bauslaugh | October 3, 2019
My Experience with a Contingent Pension Plan and the Lessons Learned.
By: Randy Bauslaugh
For many years, I have had the privilege of being legal counsel to the board of trustees of a multiemployer pension plan (MEPP) established in 1972. The employers are Canadian members of an association of schools in the US and Canada. The Canadian plan is modelled on the defined-benefit (DB) MEPP established in 1948 by the school association for US schools and their employees. Both plans are administered by joint boards of trustees, one in Canada, and one in the US. The boards include representatives of participating employers and employees.
Authored By: Peter Gorham & Nichola Peterson | Date: August 23, 2019
In our experience, most people who are given a choice of taking their pension or transferring the commuted value to personal locked-in RRSP will take the transfer. It’s a large amount of money ‒ maybe larger than anything else you have received before ‒ and it just seems that much money has to be better than a monthly pension income. But is it?
Read MoreAuthored By: Heather Haslam | Date: August 14, 2019
It’s no secret that employee engagement is critical to an organization’s success. When employees are engaged, turnover is lower, productivity is higher, and, most importantly, people are happier.
ADP wanted to take a deeper dive into this issue to measure levels of engagement and identify what conditions attract and retain workers through a global study.
Authored By: Paula Glick | Date: July 18, 2019
Last month, on June 14th, the Canadian Expert Panel on Sustainable Finance released its final report, ‘Mobilizing Finance for Sustainable Growth.’ The panel was appointed by Canada’s minister of the environment and climate change, Catherine McKenna, and minister of finance, Bill Morneau. The report observes that the sobering reality of climate change is upon us and argues that the finance community must play a critical role in supporting the transition to a low carbon economy.
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