Author Archives: Leo Kolivakis

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. I just got off the phone with a buddy of mine who used to work as a treasurer in a small bank here in Montreal. We were talking about the sharp move in the Canadian dollar over the last few trading days. You should check out the […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. Last week I commented on CPPIB’s 19% loss in FY2009. On Thursday, CPPIB released its 2009 Annual Report and it’s worth going over some details below. [Note: For some strange reason (probably to annoy me), CPPIB locked their PDF file, so I had to embed images below. […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. The Dow Jones industrial average fell almost 175 points Wednesday, erasing most of the previous day’s rally as a jump in government bond yields fanned concerns that higher interest rates will sap strength from the economy: A steep drop in the price of the benchmark 10-year Treasury […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. On Monday, Sheldon Filger wrote an article in the London Telegraph stating that the U.S. economy risks the dire prospect of hyperinflation: … though not downgrading the danger of deflation, I believe policymakers are ignoring other factors regarding this economic and financial condition. Furthermore, the U.S. government […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. I just came back from the movies where I saw Terminator Salvation. Not bad, but nowhere near as good as Terminator 2 – Judgment Day, which was a classic in this series. But far away from Hollywood, real life pension terminators are hard at work. Canadian Auto […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, addressed graduates at the the 2009 commencement of the Boston College School of Law on Friday: I am very pleased to have the opportunity to address the graduates of the Boston College Law School today. I realized with some chagrin that […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. Fiscal 2009 Portfolio Performance by Asset Class CPP FUND RETURNS Asset Class Fiscal 09* Fiscal 08* Canadian public equities -32.3% 3.2% Canadian private equities -7.8% 2.2% Public Foreign developed market equities -29.7% -13.9% Private Foreign developed market equities -17.8% 8.5% Public emerging market equities -32.6% N/A** Private […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. The WSJ reports that shortfall triples at U.S. pension guaranty agency: The federal agency that backstops corporate pension plans reported that its deficit tripled in the last six months, to $33.5 billion. Despite the shortfall, the agency said it has enough assets to pay benefits for many […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. Reuters reports that pension fund urges more credit rater accountability: Credit rating agencies should not be exempt from liability in their forward looking statements, the Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement pension fund said on Monday. At a hearing on Tuesday, Congress will examine whether rating agencies like Moody’s […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. A few weeks ago, Susan Eng, Vice President Advocacy at the Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP), asked me to write an article on investing. At first I hesitated. I simply do not believe a “once size fits all” approach to investing. Moreover, I am a risk-taker […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. A past colleague of mine wrote an excellent article in the Montreal Gazette. Consultant Luc Vallée, the former chief economist at the Caisse de dépôt, thinks the system is still rigged: The end of April marked the first 100 days in office of U.S. President Barack Obama; […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. BusinessWeek reports that former federal pensions chief faces criminal probe: The former head of the federal pension insurer inappropriately interfered in a contracting process that ultimately led to the hiring of Goldman Sachs (GS), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), and Blackrock to manage billions of dollars in assets and […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. Roughly once a quarter, I get together with some leftist professors at Alep restaurant in Montreal. As always, the food was delicious but Tom Naylor forgot to order the lamb dish, one of my favorites. He did make sure the wine kept flowing so I will forgive […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (Caisse), through its representatives, provided clarification on its 2008 financial results at the public hearing held today in Québec City by the National Assembly’s Committee on Public Finance: Fernand Perreault, Strategic Adviser to the President, Claude Bergeron, Senior Vice-President, […]

Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. I want to follow-up on my last comment on the “W” recovery because it is absolutely critical for policymakers and investors to understand the arguments on both sides of the inflation/ deflation debate. I will make this post considerably shorter than the previous one, but there is […]