Although the markets have shown some positive signs of recovery, the solvency position of Canadian defined benefit (DB) pension plans remains an issue for most plan sponsors. Over the last year and a half, the solvency ratio of a typical DB plan (60% equities, 40% fixed income) showed a significant decline of approximately 35% from […]
McGill University wants its employees to think big picture—with their retirement savings and their total compensation. Pension plan sponsors have been left reeling after the dive the markets took last year, and McGill University is no different. “Over 85% of our employees are in the balanced account—that account saw a loss of 15%, as of […]
Guiding Light August 01, 2008 | Alyssa Hodder In a challenging social and economic environment, plan sponsors are looking to pension and benefits consultants for enlightenment. It’s a demanding market for pension and benefits consultants. On the pension side, there’s only so much business to go around—particularly since the rate of conversion from defined benefit […]
A large majority—87%—of defined benefit (DB) plans in Canada will likely stick with the DB model over the next five to 10 years, according to a survey conducted by the Canadian Pension Fund Directory (a sister publication of Benefits Canada) for Pyramis Global Advisors. The survey, Exploring New Ground: Key Global Pension Strategies for […]
Many decades ago, pension plans were set up as a mechanism to ease older workers out of the workforce gracefully before they became a liability to their employer. In those days, pension plans typically fell within the purview of the senior human resource officer. As pension funds grew in size, and their risks—especially those of […]
This is an exciting and difficult time for retirement systems in the U.S. especially as the Baby Boom generation starts to move into traditional retirement ages. With an aging population and high expectations of a high standard of living, people are retiring differently and companies are changing the way they offer retirement plans. The new […]
The pension industry needs to think outside the box. It pains me to use such a hackneyed phrase(although probably not as much as it pains you to read it). So my apologies off the top. Believe me, I tried avoiding it. But I couldn’t think of an analogy that fit better or that wasn’t […]