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Manulife Investment Management named to PRI Leaders’ Group 2020 in recognition of ‘Cutting Edge’ Responsible Investment Practices

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Releases annual Sustainable and Responsible Investing Report outlining ESG initiatives across investment teams

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TORONTO and BOSTON, Oct. 19, 2020 /CNW/ – As sustainable investing continues to drive interest across the globe, Manulife Investment Management announced it was recently recognized in the Principles for Responsible Investment’s PRI Leaders’ Group  2020, a 10-year initiative honoring signatories at the cutting edge of responsible investment. This year, 36 signatories, including Manulife Investment Management, were recognized for demonstrating responsible investment excellence in climate reporting throughout their organization and portfolios.

“We are grateful to the PRI for recognizing our efforts in integrating climate data and analysis into our portfolios and pleased to detail our extensive sustainability initiatives across our investment teams in our Sustainable and Responsible Investing Report,” said Paul Lorentz, President and CEO, Manulife Investment Management. “Sustainability is a natural fit for our organization, given our traditional focus on risk management and investment research, and our history of sustainably operating real assets such as timber and farmland. Today, we offer a number of ways for investors to align their investments with their values, and our commitment to ESG investing deepens every year.”

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Manulife Investment Management showcases its ongoing commitment to ESG analysis, research, and integration with its second annual Sustainable and Responsible Investing Report. Released today, the report covers activities in both public and private markets in sustainable asset management and showcases a holistic view of Manulife Investment Management’s sustainability-focused research capabilities, engagement activities, and asset ownership practices. The document also demonstrates concrete steps taken at the firm throughout 2019 to integrate sustainability considerations into investment decision-making. The Sustainable and Responsible Investing Report outlines Manulife Investment Management’s key areas of sustainability focus and metrics of success. Focus areas include strong governance, ESG integration, active and responsible ownership, and global collaboration across numerous platforms for broader industry effectiveness.

Highlights from private markets in 2019, pertaining to real estate, private equity and infrastructure, included formalizing a robust governance structure for its sustainable investing program, actively participating in industry associations such as Leading Harvest Sustainable Farmland Management Standard and improving Real Estate GRESB scores, earning a “Green Star” ranking in six submissions. In public markets, Manulife Investment Management advanced ESG integration and active engagement across its equity and fixed-income capabilities. As a result, Manulife Investment Management won the 2019 SDG Canadian Leadership Awards for large enterprise – Canada’s premier award for organizations and businesses doing exceptional work to integrate and advance the 17 Sustainable and Development Goals of the United Nations Global Compact.

“We’re proud of the progress we’ve made driving our sustainable and responsible investing at Manulife Investment Management as we strive to lead the industry in ESG integration practices,” said Christopher P. Conkey, CFA, global head of public markets, Manulife Investment Management. “For investors, focusing on sustainability is more important now than it has ever been; the world is running up against the limits of natural capital, which increases social and economic risks in virtually every corner of the capital markets. Sustainability and resilience are central to our clients’ objectives, to the broader set of stakeholders with whom we work, and to the communities whose lives are touched by our capital allocation decisions.”

“Responsible stewardship of our clients’ capital resides at the core of our business and culture,” added Stephen J. Blewitt, global head of private markets, Manulife Investment Management. “As sustainable investing continues to migrate from the margins of our industry to its mainstream, investor demand drives that shift. By doing the right things for the right reasons, we also aspire to be a partner of choice for clients who recognize that ESG considerations are often tied to economic ones.”

Inaugural TCFD report

As part of its 2019 Sustainable and Responsible Investing report, Manulife Investment Management included its inaugural TCFD report—which follows the voluntary disclosure framework developed by the Financial Stability Board’s Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosure (TCFD). The framework sets out how businesses should disclose climate-related financial risks and opportunities within the context of their existing disclosure requirements. For Manulife Investment Management, this report offers details on the firm’s approach to climate-related sustainability governance, risk management, strategy for managing climate-related risks and opportunities, and the metrics used to manage and monitor alignment with climate-related goals.

Top Scores on PRI Assessment

Also contained in the 2019 report is Manulife Investment Management’s recently announced Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) assessment results and rationale. Scores for 2019 included:

  • A+ for strategy and governance
  • A+ for equity integration
  • A+ for SSA fixed-income integration (sovereign, supranational, and agency debt)
  • A for real estate
  • A for equity active ownership
  • A for fixed income (corporate financial, corporate non-financial, and securitized)
  • B for infrastructure (this asset class was submitted for the first time)
  • B for private equity (this asset class was submitted for the first time)

Click here for more information about the Manulife Investment Management 2019 Sustainable and Responsible Investing Report.

About Manulife Investment Management
Manulife Investment Management is the global wealth and asset management segment of Manulife Financial Corporation. We draw on more than a century of financial stewardship and the full resources of our parent company to serve individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members worldwide. Headquartered in Toronto, our leading capabilities in public and private markets are strengthened by an investment footprint that spans 17 countries and territories. We complement these capabilities by providing access to a network of unaffiliated asset managers from around the world. We’re committed to investing responsibly across our businesses. We develop innovative global frameworks for sustainable investing, collaboratively engage with companies in our securities portfolios, and maintain a high standard of stewardship where we own and operate assets, and we believe in supporting financial well-being through our workplace retirement plans. Today, plan sponsors around the world rely on our retirement plan administration and investment expertise to help their employees plan for, save for, and live a better retirement.

As of June 30, 2020, Manulife Investment Management had CAD$900 billion (US$660 billion) in assets under management and administration. Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit manulifeim.com.

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Bill Morneau slams Freeland’s budget as a threat to investment, economic growth

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Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s predecessor Bill Morneau says there was talk of increasing the capital gains tax when he was on the job — but he resisted such a change because he feared it would discourage investment by companies and job creators.

He said Canada can expect that investment drought now, in response to a federal budget that targets high-end capital gains for a tax hike.

“This was very clearly something that, while I was there, we resisted. We resisted it for a very specific reason — we were concerned about the growth of the country,” he said at a post-budget Q&A session with KPMG, one of the country’s large accounting firms.

Morneau, who served as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s finance minister from 2015 to 2020 before leaving after reports of a rift, said Wednesday that Freeland’s move to hike the inclusion rate from one-half to two-thirds on capital gains over $250,000 for individuals, and on all gains for corporations and trusts, is “clearly a negative to our long-term goal, which is growth in the economy, productive growth and investments.”

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Morneau said the wealthy, business owners and corporations — the people most likely to face a higher tax burden as a result of Freeland’s change — will think twice about investing in Canada because they stand to make less money on their investments.

“We’ve created a disincentive and that’s very difficult. I think we always have to recognize any measure that creates a disincentive for investment not only impacts us within the country but also impacts foreign investors that are looking at our country,” he said.

“I don’t think there’s any way to sugarcoat it. It’s a challenge. It’s probably very troubling for many investors.”

KPMG accountants on hand for Morneau’s remarks said they’ve already received calls from some clients worried about how the capital gains change will affect their investments.

Praise from progressives

While Freeland’s move to tax the well-off to pay for new spending is catching heat from wealthy businesspeople like Morneau, and from the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, progressive groups said they were pleased by the change.

“We appreciate moves to increase taxes on the wealthiest Canadians and profitable corporations,” said the Canadian Labour Congress.

“We have been calling on the government to fix the unfair tax break on capital gains for a decade,” said Katrina Miller, the executive director of Canadians for Tax Fairness. “Today we are pleased to see them take action and decrease the tax gap between wage earners and wealthy investors.”

“This is how housing, pharmacare and a Canada disability benefit are afforded. If this is the government’s response to spending concerns, let’s bring it on. It’s about time we look at Canada’s revenue problem,” said the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

The capital gains tax change was pitched by Freeland as a way to make the tax system fairer — especially for millennials and Generation Z Canadians who face falling behind the economic status of their parents and grandparents.

“We are making Canada’s tax system more fair by ensuring that the very wealthiest pay their fair share,” Freeland said Tuesday after tabling her budget in Parliament.

WATCH: New investment to lead ‘housing revolution in Canada,’ Freeland says

New investment to lead ‘housing revolution in Canada,’ Freeland says

23 hours ago

Duration 1:04

Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said this year’s federal budget will pave the way for Canada to build more homes at a pace not seen since the Second World War. The new investment and changes to funding models will also cut through red tape and break down zoning barriers for people who want to build homes faster, she said

The capital gains tax, which the government says will raise about $19 billion over five years, is also being pitched as a way to help pay for the government’s ambitious housing plan.

The plan is geared toward young voters who have struggled to buy a home. Average housing prices in Canada are among the highest in the world and interest rates are at 20-year highs.

Tuesday’s budget document says some wealthy people who make money off asset sales and dividends — instead of income from a job — can face a lower tax burden than working and middle-class people.

Morneau, who comes from a wealthy family and married into another one, is on the board of directors of CIBC and Clairvest, a private equity management firm that manages about $4 billion in assets.

According to government data, only 0.13 per cent of Canadians — people with an average income of about $1.4 million a year — are expected to pay more on their capital gains as a result of this change.

A wood cottage.
A cottage at Go Home Lake, located about two hours from Toronto. (Ivan Arsovski/CBC News)

But there’s also a chance less wealthy people will pay more as a result of the change.

Put simply, capital gains occur when you sell certain property for more than you paid for it.

While capital gains from the sale of a primary residence will remain untaxed, the tax change could affect the sales of cottages and other seasonal and investment properties, along with stocks and mutual funds sold at a profit.

A cottage bought years ago and sold for a gain of more than $250,000 would see part of the proceeds taxed at the new higher rate.

But there’s some protection for people who sell a small business or a farming or fishing property — the lifetime capital gains exemption is going up by about 25 per cent to $1.25 million for those taxpayers.

Freeland said Tuesday she anticipates some blowback.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland gets a shout-out and an applause from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a caucus meeting
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland gets a shout-out and applause from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a caucus meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press)

“I know there will be many voices raised in protest. No one likes paying more tax, even — or perhaps particularly — those who can afford it the most,” she said.

“Tax policy is not only, or chiefly, the province of accountants or economists. It belongs to all of us because it is how we decide what kind of country we want to live in and what kind of country we want to build.”

Morneau had little praise for what his successor included in her fourth budget.

Morneau said Canada’s GDP per capita is declining, growth is limited and productivity is lagging other countries — making the country as a whole less wealthy than it was.

Canada has a growth problem, Morneau warns

The government is more interested in rolling out new costly social programs than introducing measures that will reverse some of those troubling national wealth trends, he said.

“Canada is not growing at the pace we need it to grow and if you can’t grow the size of the pie, it’s not easy to figure out how to share the proceeds,” he said.

“You think about that first before you add new programs and the government’s done exactly the opposite.”

The U.S. has a “dynamic investment culture,” something that has turbo-charged economic growth and kept unemployment at decades-low levels, Morneau said. Canada doesn’t have that luxury, he said.

He said Freeland hasn’t done enough to rein in the size of the federal government, which has grown on Trudeau’s watch.

The deficit is now roughly double what it was when he left office, Morneau noted.

“There wasn’t enough done to reduce spending,” he said, while offering muted praise for the government’s decision to focus so much of its spending on the housing conundrum. “The priority was appropriate.”

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Saudi Arabia Highlights Investment Initiatives in Tourism at International Hospitality Investment Forum

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — ​The Saudi Ministry of Tourism is currently taking a prominent stage at the International Hospitality Investment Forum (IHIF), presenting a unique opportunity for global investors to dive into the thriving tourism landscape of the Kingdom. With the spotlight on the Tourism Investment Enablers Program (TIEP), that was recently announced, Saudi Arabia is aggressively pushing towards its Vision 2030 goal of being a top global tourism destination for investors and tourists alike. ​

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This strategic presentation comes at a time when Saudi Arabia’s tourism sector celebrates an incredible milestone of 100 million visitors in 2023, seven years ahead of schedule, marking a significant stride towards economic diversification and emphasizing the sector’s growing contribution to the national GDP. The flagship Hospitality Investment Enablers (HIE), one of TIEP’s initiatives, aims to leverage this momentum, planning an investment infusion into the hospitality sector of up to SAR 42 billion in key destinations, which alone is anticipated to create 120,000 new jobs by 2030.​

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The IHIF audience is getting a close look at Saudi Arabia’s plans to expand its accommodation capacity dramatically. The Kingdom is targeting an increase in hotel rooms to over 500,000 and aiming to welcome 150 million visitors annually by 2030. The HIE stands at the core of these ambitions, designed to energize the hospitality sector by introducing a new wave of supply in targeted tourism hotspots, significantly enriching the Kingdom’s diverse tourism offerings.​

The initiative is supported by a suite of strategic enablers, including access to government-owned land under favorable terms, streamlined project development processes, and regulatory adjustments aimed at reducing barriers to market entry and operational costs. This comprehensive approach is expected to catalyze a significant socio-economic transformation within the Kingdom, with private sector investments projected to reach SAR 42.3 billion and a forecasted annual GDP increase of SAR 16.4 billion by 2030.​

Saudi Arabia’s active participation in IHIF aims to showcase the Kingdom as an enticing investment frontier for international investors, emphasizing the lucrative opportunities within the tourism and hospitality sectors. This global stage provides the perfect platform for the Ministry of Tourism to forge lasting partnerships and highlight the Kingdom’s commitment to elevating its tourism industry standards, fostering sustainable growth, and offering robust support to investors.​

Through this engagement, the Saudi Ministry of Tourism is not just showcasing investment opportunities; it is inviting the world to be a part of Saudi Arabia’s ambitious journey towards redefining global tourism norms. Investors are encouraged to seize this unparalleled chance to collaborate with the Kingdom, as it paves the way for a new era of tourism excellence aligned with Vision 2030’s transformative objectives.​​

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Web3 investment up 55% in Q1 as crypto VC interest rebounds – Cointelegraph

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The number of Web3 venture capitalist deals also rose 36% in the first quarter of 2024, indicating wider interest in Web3 protocols.

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