The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan office in Toronto is seen in this file photo.. The plan reported a 4-per-cent return for 2022 when it released its results on Tuesday.COLE BURSTON/The Canadian Press
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan reported a 4-per-cent return in 2022, helped by a conscious shift toward investments in assets that are sensitive to higher interest rates in a year market volatility spurred widespread losses in public markets.
Teachers’ annual return beat its internal benchmark of 2.3 per cent, and its net assets increased to $247.2-billion. Over 10 years, Teachers has returned 8.5 per cent, and the plan was considered fully funded at year-end.
Pension plans faced a tough year in 2022 as high inflation and rapidly rising interest rates created volatility in markets. But pension fund managers found refuge in the large portfolios of investments they have built in privately held assets such as infrastructure and private equity, which were more stable, as well as commodities and natural resources that are highly sensitive to interest rates and had a boom year.
Teachers, which manages the pensions of Ontario’s 336,000 active and retired teachers, has ramped up its investments in several of those asset classes, and started to move back into fixed-income securities as interest rates rose. Chief executive officer Jo Taylor has been vocal about the need to be brave in the plan’s investment choices in order to find stable returns in a tumultuous market.
“On a relative basis they’re good results. A lot of our peers find it more challenging to get it to positive territory,” Mr. Taylor said in an interview. “I think we’ve been very much living to that agility principle in the last two years by making bold choices around which areas we think we can make returns.”
On Monday, OPSEU Pension Trust announced a net investment loss of 2.2 per cent for 2022, bringing its 10-year average return to 7.8 per cent. And in recent weeks, Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System said it returned 4.2 per cent in 2022, while Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec lost 5.6 per cent. But wide variations in the plans’ portfolios and membership make them difficult to compare directly.
As the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank creates new paroxysms in markets, Mr. Taylor said he expects the immediate impact on Teachers from the banking crisis will be “really, nil.” But as the fallout unfolds, he said the widespread uncertainty it creates could start to make deals more difficult if banks pull back on lending and financing for mergers.
“What’s really the issue? I think it’s wider confidence in markets,” Mr. Taylor said. “And then secondly, will it actually mean that some of our banking partners are a little more cautious about being active at the moment on helping us with transactions?”
Last year, Teachers put more money into fixed-income assets, starting to rebuild a portfolio that it had reduced when interest rates fell to ultralow levels after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The plan pushed further into credit, setting up a private credit team in London, and chief investment officer Ziad Hindo said “there is clearly more room for us to grow that asset class” even after it reached its largest share of Teachers’ portfolio at year-end, at 14 per cent of assets or $35-billion.
Teachers has also significantly increased its infrastructure portfolio in recent years. Those investments are in assets such as toll roads, airports, digital infrastructure and power generation that tend to have predictable cash flows tied to inflation. Last year, infrastructure assets delivered some of the strongest returns for Teachers, gaining 18.7 per cent, which beat a 15.1-per-cent benchmark.
Investments in commodities and natural resources returned 19.5 per cent and 29.6 per cent, respectively, though those assets make up smaller slices of the overall portfolio.
Private equity gained 6.1 per cent, surpassing a benchmark loss of 3.9 per cent, helped by foreign currency gains from a strengthening U.S. dollar.
Teachers underperformed in public stocks and bonds as well as real estate. Public equities lost 12.5 per cent, which was worse than a benchmark loss of 10.2 per cent. Bonds lost 5.9 per cent.
And the $28.1-billion real estate portfolio lost 3.5 per cent, missing its benchmark of a 6.7-per-cent gain as valuations on its Canadian retail and office portfolios fell, affecting capitalization rates. Teachers owns Cadillac Fairview, which has a high concentration of retail and office properties in Canada, which underperformed last year.
Mr. Hindo said retail sales productivity levels at many properties are back to pre-COVID levels, “so they’ve recovered quite well.” But the recent decision by Nordstrom Inc. to wind down its Canadian operations creates renewed pressure on malls, including three major properties owned by Cadillac Fairview where the luxury retailer was an anchor tenant.
“Mall anchors has never been an easy story, particularly for the larger malls, but it’s something that Cadillac Fairview has had to deal with multiple times in the past, whether it was Sears or Target, so they’re pretty good at turning that space around and reconfiguring it in a profitable way,” Mr. Hindo said.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was down more than 200 points in late-morning trading, weighed down by losses in the technology, base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets also fell.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 239.24 points at 22,749.04.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 312.36 points at 40,443.39. The S&P 500 index was down 80.94 points at 5,422.47, while the Nasdaq composite was down 380.17 points at 16,747.49.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.80 cents US compared with 74.00 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down US$1.07 at US$68.08 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.26 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$2.10 at US$2,541.00 an ounce and the December copper contract was down four cents at US$4.10 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in technology, financial and energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also pushed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 171.41 points at 23,298.39.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 278.37 points at 41,369.79. The S&P 500 index was up 38.17 points at 5,630.35, while the Nasdaq composite was up 177.15 points at 17,733.18.
The Canadian dollar traded for 74.19 cents US compared with 74.23 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up US$1.75 at US$76.27 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up less than a penny at US$2.10 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$18.70 at US$2,556.50 an ounce and the December copper contract was down less than a penny at US$4.22 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2024.
The crypto market has recently experienced a significant downturn, mirroring broader risk asset sell-offs. Over the past week, Bitcoin’s price dropped by 24%, reaching $53,000, while Ethereum plummeted nearly a third to $2,340. Major altcoins also suffered, with Cardano down 27.7%, Solana 36.2%, Dogecoin 34.6%, XRP 23.1%, Shiba Inu 30.1%, and BNB 25.7%.
The severe downturn in the crypto market appears to be part of a broader flight to safety, triggered by disappointing economic data. A worse-than-expected unemployment report on Friday marked the beginning of a technical recession, as defined by the Sahm Rule. This rule identifies a recession when the three-month average unemployment rate rises by at least half a percentage point from its lowest point in the past year.
Friday’s figures met this threshold, signaling an abrupt economic downshift. Consequently, investors sought safer assets, leading to declines in major stock indices: the S&P 500 dropped 2%, the Nasdaq 2.5%, and the Dow 1.5%. This trend continued into Monday with further sell-offs overseas.
The crypto market’s rapid decline raises questions about its role as either a speculative asset or a hedge against inflation and recession. Despite hopes that crypto could act as a risk hedge, the recent crash suggests it remains a speculative investment.
Since the downturn, the crypto market has seen its largest three-day sell-off in nearly a year, losing over $500 billion in market value. According to CoinGlass data, this bloodbath wiped out more than $1 billion in leveraged positions within the last 24 hours, including $365 million in Bitcoin and $348 million in Ether.
Khushboo Khullar of Lightning Ventures, speaking to Bloomberg, argued that the crypto sell-off is part of a broader liquidity panic as traders rush to cover margin calls. Khullar views this as a temporary sell-off, presenting a potential buying opportunity.
Josh Gilbert, an eToro market analyst, supports Khullar’s perspective, suggesting that the expected Federal Reserve rate cuts could benefit crypto assets. “Crypto assets have sold off, but many investors will see an opportunity. We see Federal Reserve rate cuts, which are now likely to come sharper than expected, as hugely positive for crypto assets,” Gilbert told Coindesk.
Despite the recent volatility, crypto continues to make strides toward mainstream acceptance. Notably, Morgan Stanley will allow its advisors to offer Bitcoin ETFs starting Wednesday. This follows more than half a year after the introduction of the first Bitcoin ETF. The investment bank will enable over 15,000 of its financial advisors to sell BlackRock’s IBIT and Fidelity’s FBTC. This move is seen as a significant step toward the “mainstreamization” of crypto, given the lengthy regulatory and company processes in major investment banks.
The recent crypto market downturn highlights its volatility and the broader economic concerns affecting all risk assets. While some analysts see the current situation as a temporary sell-off and a buying opportunity, others caution against the speculative nature of crypto. As the market evolves, its role as a mainstream alternative asset continues to grow, marked by increasing institutional acceptance and new investment opportunities.
