Pension Pulse

Bert Clark, President & CEO, Investment Management Corporation of Ontario (IMCO), posted a comment on LinkedIn today, "This too shall pass" or This time is different?" A Canadian Investor’s View of the US Today : Like many others, I have been taken aback by some of the pronouncements and actions of the new Trump administration. It has felt jarring. America embodies much of what countries aspire to, but it also frequently disappoints, which probably explains why it is often described as “exceptional” – a term that seems deliberately, in important ways, neutral. Whatever its shortcomings, since WWII, America has been a critical and mostly reliable supporter of democracy, territorial integrity, free trade, international development and collaboration on matters of global importance. They have shaped the post war world in ways that have improved the lives of billions ...

Alex Harring and Brian Evans report the S&P 500 closes higher in volatile trading Friday, but index posts worst week since September: The S&P 500 regained some ground on Friday, but the index still posted its worst week in several months as the salvo of trade policy actions unnerved investors. The broad index rose 0.55% to 5,770.20, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.7% to 18,196.22. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 222.64 points, or 0.52%, to end at 42,801.72. Friday saw volatile trading, with the Dow falling more than 400 points at session lows before an afternoon rally. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both fell more than 1% at their worst points in the trading day. Despite Friday’s recovery, the S&P 500 notched its worst week since September with a loss of 3.1%. The Dow, meanwhile, fell 2.4% this week. The Nasdaq Composite slid 3.5% on the week, during which it had entered correction territory , which means the tech-heavy index finished a session 10% off its r...

HOOPP's Ivana Zanardo (Head of Plan Services) and Jennifer Rook (Vice President of Strategy, Global Intelligence and Advocacy) wrote a position paper on the health impacts of the gender pension gap: Women in the workforce have made significant strides in recent decades: the gender wage gap is shrinking, women hold a growing share of senior leadership positions at Canadian companies and are more likely than men to be covered by a registered pension plan through their workplace 1 . These are important developments worth celebrating, but there is some nuance missing. Even as the wage gap narrows, women in Canada still face an annual income gap of 29 per cent 2 – that does not account for race, disability, age or a myriad of other factors which can exacerbate the gap for many women. And while we are encouraged to see more women in leadership at Canadian companies, only about 24 per cent of these positions are held by women 3 . Although more women than men are covered ...

Byron Kaye and Christine Chen of Reuters report Canada's biggest pension fund calls for economic diversification as tariffs hit: Canada must diversify its economy and position itself as more competitive on the global stage if tariffs promised by U.S. President Donald Trump take effect, Canada's biggest pension fund said on Tuesday.   Edwin Cass, chief investment officer of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, said his country's economy was "tied at the hip" to the U.S. after Trump said on Monday 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico would go into effect almost immediately.   "One of the things we obviously should have been doing in the past, and I think you'll see going forward, is that we'll try and diversify our economy a lot more and we'll try and do some things to make it more competitive on the world stage," Cass told the Australian Financial Review Business Summit in Sydney.   Canada's federal and provincial governments ...

The Canadian Press reports Welltower buying Amica from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan for $4.6 billion: U.S. company Welltower Inc. has signed a deal to buy Amica Senior Lifestyles from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan for $4.6 billion. The deal includes 31 seniors residences and seven under construction. As part of the transaction, Welltower will also acquire a minority interest in Amica’s management company with the Amica management team owning the majority interest. Welltower CEO Shankh Mitra says the deal comes against a backdrop of rapidly growing demand and limited new supply for seniors residences. Ontario Teachers’ first invested in Amica in 2010 and took the company private in a deal with management in 2015. The deal with Welltower is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025, subject to customary regulatory approvals. This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 3, 2025. Reuters also reports Welltower to buy Amica portfolio from Ontario Teachers’ ...