Pension funds manage enormous amounts of capital, but they don’t create as much value as other players in the financial sector. Entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and private equity funds all play a more direct role in launching projects and creating value. But some Canadian pension funds have taken control of the value-creation process with investments in real estate, natural resources, infrastructure, and private credit, writes Associate Professor Sebastien Betermier in Wealth Professional.

Last year was one of economic uncertainty – and a challenging year for many small businesses. Despite this, small business owners demonstrated remarkable resilience, ingenuity and leadership, and looked for ways to turn obstacles into new opportunities, writes Don Ludlow (MBA’01) in CanadianSME Business Magazine.

This winter, the sustainability efforts of 13 University offices were recognized by the rigorous Sustainable Workplace Certification program hosted by the McGill Office of Sustainability, with nearly half coming from McGill Desautels. The Academic Affairs Office earned a Gold-level certification, while the Dean’s Office and Infrastructure Team earned Silver, and the EMBA McGill-HEC program, Human Resources Team, PhD in Management Office, and Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship were recognized with Bronze awards.

Christmas is just around the corner, and even with inflation slowing down, gift prices are higher than ever. Canada’s Consumer Price Index is at an all-time high of nearly 160 points, Associate Professor Vivek Astvansh tells CTV News Montreal. “Consumers are feeling the pinch, and while they want to buy stuff, they are resisting purchases,” says Astvansh. Holiday spending will still be higher than it was last year, but not because people are actually buying more gifts. “The prices of everything have gone up.

Funding for universities is not a zero-sum game, writes John Cleghorn Professor of Management Henry Mintzberg in a LaPresse op-ed. And the Quebec government’s plan to increase tuition for out-of-province students risks undermining the very source of funding it hopes to leverage. If students at anglophone universities are charged higher fees, and that money is used to fund francophone universities, it will discourage many out-of-province students from coming to Quebec in the first place.

Family-controlled businesses demonstrate exceptional long-term performance. Since 2005, such businesses have significantly outperformed the S&P/TSX Composite. Family-controlled businesses earned an annualized return of 8.3%, compared to 7% for their publicly-traded counterparts, according to the National Bank of Canada’s Family Advantage 2023-24 Report.

Canadian pension funds have outperformed their counterparts elsewhere, and a recent study co-authored by Associate Professor of Finance Sebastien Betermier examines how they’ve accomplished this. The study analyzes four deals – in the agricultural, railway transportation, real estate development, and financial services– that diversified their holdings and enabled their success.