Leo Kolivakis's blog

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is hedging for choppy markets, snapping up Manhattan real estate and getting into the lending business.

Did the Fed blow it or are Wall Street crooks gearing up for another big payday?

While everybody is dissecting the Fed's latest move ad nauseam, I keep things simple. The Fed will do whatever it takes to reflate risk assets to shore up banks' and pensions' balance sheets, and bring about mild inflation to the economic system. Are there risks to QE 2.0? Sure there are, but the bigger risk is if they do nothing at all.

A tenth of Britain’s biggest companies are saddled with final salary pension schemes that dwarf their market value, according to a worrying report.

It looks like private equity is emerging from the deep as investor confidence is returning, and there is increased interest in long-term asset classes. But the boom years are over, and only the strong will survive the coming shakeout in the PE industry.

Canada’s biggest multi-employer pension plan, with 130,000 active members, says thousands could soon face future benefit cuts of 15 to 50 per cent depending on negotiations with companies.

It's been a long, hot summer for hedge funds and things aren't looking up. Why are so many hedge funds struggling?

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Fund has shown it is not squeamish when it comes to risky investing.
The pension fund has purchased a significant chunk of Transocean Ltd. the oil rig contractor involved in the explosion that led to the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Is Teachers making the right call? I think so...

A discussion on the seven faces of "The Peril" and what more QE means for pensions.

Pension funding relief could provide between $19 billion and $63 billion reduction in required contributions over five years. And the Fed is also taking notice of states' pension woes. This means that the reflation trade will continue well into 2011.

There is a paradigm shift going on in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). While Big Pharma frets over the new treatment, many MS patients are flying in droves to Poland, India and elsewhere to get treated, and some are reporting drastic improvements. But now that clinical trials are commencing in Canada and the US, MS patients should finally get the answers we're looking for.

Alberta Investment Management Corp., known as AIMCo, said overall returns are running in the range of about 17% for 2009-2010. It's too bad AIMCo's CEO, Leo de Bever, still doesn't get the respect he deserves. Come read his thoughts on AIMCo, markets and why he is in no rush to invest more in infrastructure.

In the first quarter, the US economy grew by 3.7%, revised up from an originally reported 2.7% increase. But growth estimates all the way back to the start of 2007 were revised lower. Moreover, the level of real GDP in Q1 was revised down by $100 billion. Does this mean the secular bull market in bonds will continue? And are Treasuries the "last diversifier left"?

When the Caisse released its 2009 results back in February, the annual report wasn't made available then, and I didn't provide a full discussion on it. It turns out they published one of their best annual reports ever, focusing on accountability.

While some industry participants are heralding the recovery in commercial real estate, other experts warn that this is a false recovery and it's too early for such proclamations...