Newsletter ⮞ September 19, 2023

Alpha will only get harder to generate (and other findings)

This year’s International Best Practices Forum which took place in Victoria, BC, from October 11-13, 2023, brought together an exceptional group of leaders from across the Canadian pension industry. Our key audience poll findings this year: most asset owners think AI holds more benefits than risks, alpha is going to get increasingly difficult to generate in the coming years, and a recession is in the cards over the next six to 12 months. See the full list of polling questions and results below - and follow Canadian Leadership Congress on LinkedIn for photo highlights from the event.

Read the poll results

The Future of Energy in a Net Zero World

SEIU Healthcare: Making an Impact With Members, post-COVID

SEIU Healthcare represents 60,000 frontline health professionals across Ontario. Its members experienced – indeed, continue to experience – COVID-19 in ways most of us can only imagine. The pandemic’s effect on talent retention in the sector has been widely reported. Its long-term impact on talent attraction remains to be seen.

Navigating Capital Markets at the Crossroads

Navigating The Great Resignation - The Importance of Retirement Benefits

The Great Resignation is symptomatic of a change in the employer-employee relationship. One that may be gathering momentum. It’s not widespread, but it is important for business leaders to see it for what it is – a warning sign that at least some Canadians are unprepared to go back to a pre-pandemic normal.

BEHIND THE SCENES

Canadian Leadership Congress had the opportunity to sit down with some featured speakers at the International Best Practices Forum in Vancouver and ask them one key follow-up question that arose from their presentation. Here’s what they had to say!

Rethinking the role of bonds | Marlene Puffer, CLC Advisory Board member

Pension funds are going to have to rethink the role of bonds, says Puffer, adding that a liability-driven investing strategy isn’t static. Rather, asset owners need to respond to dynamic markets and make changes when needed – especially when it comes to fixed income.

Watch the video

Investing should start with the “why” | Debby Blakey, CEO, HESTA

Speaking at the International Best Practices Forum, Blakey talked about the importance of investing with purpose as a means of moving beyond pure numerical analysis. HESTA’s holistic investment approach starts with long-term value creation and makes decisions based on a holistic set of factors that includes ESG.

Watch the video

There’s a lot of growth to come in India | Vikram Desai, President, DSP Group

As a speaker at the International Best Practices Forum, Desai discussed the top opportunities in India for Canadian pension plans, particularly digital infrastructure which is set to benefit from new incentives to get Indian businesses to move to digital platforms.

Watch the video

Net Zero and Canada’s energy industry | Chief Billy Morin

Our conversation with Chief Morin covered Canada’s abundance of natural resources and energy and the growing recognition that Indigenous peoples can be a true business partner in helping to meet the goals of Net Zero by 2050.

Watch the video

A digital war is brewing between China and the U.S. | Winston Ma, author, Co-Founder, CloudTree Ventures

It came as news to many of our delegates at the International Best Practices Forum that only two companies globally have more than 100 million users in both China and the U.S. - Apple and TikTok. According to Ma, this is just one example of how deep the digital divide is between China and the U.S.

Watch the video

The global economy is too big | David Suzuki, scientist, environmentalist, broadcaster

Ask David Suzuki how to transform the global economy and he’ll say it needs to get smaller. Right now nature isn’t part of our economy - and economic growth is degrading the air, water, and soil humans need to survive. Suzuki delivered this stark message at the International Best Practices Forum in Vancouver.

Watch the video

The Challenge of Change Forum

The CLC is pleased to announce information for the fourth annual Challenge of Change Forum, in‑person, with a focus on leadership, investment and governance, delving into the theme of change.

SOLD OUT!

Keynote Announcement: Justin Lord, Senior Managing Director, Public Equities at AIMCo

The Canadian Leadership Congress will be hosting our 2024 DB Pension New Ideas Forum on February 22 at the Shangri-La Hotel in Toronto. This event will convene DB pension decision-makers, asset managers and experts to discuss emerging investment trends and new paradigms for traditional portfolio management approaches.

Communicating with your board - our top takeaways

Communicating investment recommendations to board members ranks among the top challenges facing pension decision makers today, especially when those members are lay trustees. Our Congressional Huddle at the 2023 International Best Practices Forum brought pension decision makers together to work through a case study where they were asked to address a panel of trustees, both lay and expert, and make a recommendation on a specific investment strategy. In return, our board member panel had a few tips to share that could help them become better communicators to trustees.

Read what they said

Monday Minute Chat Series: Global Credit Opportunities and the New Normal

In our next Monday Minute on November 6, Karl Dasher and David Scudellari will discuss global credit opportunities, including some of the most compelling options available right now — like short duration mispricing, primary and secondary markets, and economies like Latin America and Asia.

Learn more

In case you missed it – Why are asset owners are turning to direct lending? How they are integrating it into their portfolios? We discuss the opportunities, particularly post-COVID, and how can it help asset owners in today's low yield environment. Watch the session here.

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