Sun Life Financial reported a fourth-quarter profit of $419.6 million on Wednesday. On a per-share basis, the Toronto-based company said it had profit of 65 cents. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were 73 cents per share. The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research […]
In recent years, pension plan sponsors were optimistic about upcoming de-risking activity. In a Towers Watson (now Willis Towers Watson) survey conducted in the summer of 2014, 67% of survey respondents indicated they intended to reduce pension risk by 2017. However, many plan sponsors also said conditions needed to improve in order for them to accelerate their […]
Mercer Canada has launched an online marketplace that is aimed at revolutionizing the bulk annuity market for defined benefit (DB) pension plans. The Mercer Pension Risk Exchange will bring plan sponsors looking to lower risk together with insurers of group annuities. Read: Employers urged to prepare for new normal in pension plans “We estimate that […]
Employers need to prepare for a new normal in their pension plans as the economy continues to lag and people are living longer, Mercer’s Jean-Philippe Provost told attendees at the firm’s annual Retirement Outlook and Fearless Forecast event today in Toronto. Provost pointed to new de-risking opportunities, such as the $530-million combined annuity buy-in transaction […]
The evolving annuity: where it’s been and where it’s going
Major trends are reshaping Canada’s pension industry—from greater employer interest in sharing or off-loading pension risk to increased on de-risking.
To keep their DB plans afloat, sponsors need to ensure that they’re managing the risks
This month in Frontlines: Market Watch, Legal Briefs, This Month in Numbers and much more.
Is 2014 the dawn of a new era in pension plan de-risking?
It was, literally, a big deal when the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) off-loaded the risk of its underfunded DB pension plan to Sun Life Financial with a $150-million group annuity purchase. Steering this complex deal seemed impossible at times—no Canadian pension plan had bought an inflation-adjusted group annuity before. But the Winnipeg-based grain marketer plowed […]