Sienna Senior Living in $255M deal to acquire B.C. seniors housing assets + MORE Apr 18th

Quebec pension fund forecasts more modest returns

Think about all the elements you need to be a successful index investor. First, you need to choose the right mix of stocks and bonds, and to adjust that mix as you approach retirement. Your portfolio needs to be broadly diversified and low-cost. You need to save part of your paycheque in a disciplined way, rebalancing your portfolio from time to time, and resist distractions so you won’t be tempted to abandon your plan.
If you have a defined contribution pension plan or group RRSP through your employer, there may be a simple solution: the target date fund. These products were created in the 1990s for workplace investment plans in the US, and they’re now widespread in Canada, with BlackRock’s LifePath and Fidelity’s ClearPath family the most common. These incumbents will now face a challenge from Vanguard, who manages over $358 billion USD in target date funds in the US and recently announced its own series of Target Retirement Funds in Canada.
The idea behind target date funds is brilliantly simple: each one is balanced portfolio of bonds and global equities in various proportions, from aggressive to conservative…

Some of the most active companies traded Monday on the Toronto Stock Exchange:
Toronto Stock Exchange (13,719.82, up 82.62 points):
Telesta Therapeutics Inc. (TSX:TST). Health-care. Down five cents, or 37.04 per cent, to 8.5 cents on 16.8 million shares.
Bombardier Inc. (TSX:BBD.B). Aerospace, rail equipment. Down five cents, or 3.09 per cent, to $1.57 on 12 million shares.
Teck Resources Ltd. (TSX:TCK.B). Miner. Up $1.40, or 12.84 per cent, to $12.30 on 10.9 million shares.
Baytex Energy Corp. (TSX:BTE). Oil and gas. Up five cents, or 0.90 per cent, to $5.63 on 9.1 million shares.
Sabina Gold & Silver Corp. (TSX:SBB). Miner. Up 25 cents, or 24.27 per cent, to $1.28 on 8.7 million shares.
Mandalay Resources Corp. (TSX:MND). Miner. Up six cents, or 6.90 per cent, to 93 cents on 7.7 million shares.
Companies reporting major news:
Rogers Communications Inc. (TSX:RCI.B). Telecommunications. Down 11 cents, or 0.22 per cent, to $50.20 on 679,988 shares. Rogers Communications reported after markets closed a decline in first-quarter profits, citing among other things higher restructuring costs and an increase in the adjusted operating loss of its traditional media business…

OTTAWA – The federal government has introduced its promised enhancement to Ottawa’s child benefit program —a move it says will bring tax relief for more families and help boost economic growth.
Finance Minister Bill Morneau tabled a motion today to implement the move, a key election vow for the Liberals.
The measure will consolidate, increase and re-target several family benefits — including the replacement of both the Canada child tax benefit and the universal child care benefit.
The updated plan will cost the public treasury about $10 billion more over the next two years than the combined total of the former Conservative government’s child benefits.
The Liberals have argued their overhauled child benefit will generate much-needed economic growth — and eventually help them end a projected string of five-straight federal deficits.
Morneau’s motion also included a new tax credit for teachers who buy classroom supplies, a deduction to help encourage skilled labour into northern and remote communities and a move to restore a tax credit for labour-sponsored investment funds…

MARKHAM, Ont. – Ontario-based Sienna Senior Living (TSX:SIA) is acquiring seniors housing assets in British Columbia for $255 million, including mortgage debt.
Sienna said the assets, known as the Baltic properties, include two high-quality private-pay independent living retirement residences and six best-in-class long-term care residences, which include both private-pay and funded long-term care and assisted living.
As well, it is getting a 50 per cent interest in Pacific Seniors Management General Partnership, the current manager and operator of the Baltic properties, and options to acquire up to 100 per cent of two newly built seniors housing assets at “a discount to fair market value.”
Sienna will be required to purchase the remaining 50 per cent interest in PSM in June 2019 for about $1.7 million, subject to adjustments.
The purchase price also includes $1 million for excess land with future expansion potential.
Sienna said the price includes assumption of some $137 million in existing mortgages and that it has concluded a bought deal public offering of subscription receipts for net proceeds of $120 million, rising to as much as $138 million if underwriters exercise an over-allotment option in full…