A new paper is evaluating how global retirement systems are faring in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and what reforms will be required to facilitate the retirements of future generations. The paper, ‘Building better retirement systems in the wake of the global pandemic,’ by Olivia Mitchell, a professor and executive director of the pension research council […]
Employers that act as pension plan administrators have statutory fiduciary duties that are defined by the plan documents and by governing pension legislation. While those duties continue to apply during the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting market volatility, they require even more careful navigation, as cash flow and internal corporate resources may be strained. Pension regulators across […]
The Association of Canadian Pension Management’s Alberta regional council is highlighting the need for “made-in-Alberta” measures focused on pension plan sponsors, administrators and members due to the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic. In a submission to the provincial government, the council listed recommendations around pension contributions and funding, commuted values, plan administration, defined contribution […]
The pension risk-transfer market had another record-breaking year for transactions in 2019, according to Eckler’s latest report. Transactions for the year came to $5.2 billion, with buy-in annuities taking the lead as the dominant risk-transfer strategy with sales of almost $2.6 billion. The average transaction size continued to rise, increasing by 40 per cent, from […]
It’s hard to believe that just recently, people weren’t cutting their own hair or binge-watching Tiger King. At the beginning of the year, defined benefit funding levels were at record highs and many pension plan sponsors were considering reducing their pension risk. Fast forward a few months and the novel coronavirus has turned the world […]
In 2009, when Vincent Morin walked through the doors of Air Canada as the vice-president of asset allocation and strategy for its investment division, he faced a tough situation. The company’s eight defined benefit pension plans, which buy units of a single master trust fund, were facing a $2.6 billion deficit. In the following years, […]
The Pension Investment Association of Canada is calling on provincial governments to allow pension plan sponsors to opt out of making any special payments for a period of six to 12 months or until there’s greater visibility of the end of the fallout from the coronavirus crisis. “We recommend that no conditionality or approval requirements be applied […]
In this time of pandemic, a lot has been shared about the woes of defined benefit pension plans, but members of capital accumulation plans are also feeling the impact, even though few have even noticed. Fortunately, target-date funds and lifecycle portfolios have really helped. But the government and provincial regulators need to help as well. Once […]
From plan members to plan sponsors to providers, everyone in the industry is talking about decumulation. Even governments are getting in on the action. But what will be the effect of the new products? “The options will meet the needs of some employers, but we’re not heading for a revolution just yet,” said Marc-Antoine Morin, […]
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions is introducing some measures to help federally regulated private defined benefit pension plans get through the difficult times caused by the coronavirus. Particularly, the regulator is temporarily freezing portability transfers and annuity purchases. In both cases, plan sponsors can write to the OSFI to for consent to […]