The majority of U.S.-based defined contribution pension plan sponsors said they haven’t felt the need to pause or reduce contributions during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new survey by the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association. While 86 per cent of respondents said they aren’t considering suspending matching employer contributions, just eight per cent said they already have. […]
The collapse in the equity markets has damaged capital accumulation plan retirement accounts. Governments need to level the playing field between defined benefit plans and CAPs, which include defined contribution plans, registered retirement savings plans and pooled registered pension plans, to assist capital accumulation plan members in rebuilding their retirement accounts. If investments are not […]
As you’ll read in this issue’s cover story, our 2020 CAP Member Survey was fielded at the end of March and early April, targeting respondents as they were beginning to face the financial impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. While we still asked our annual questions about capital accumulation plan members’ retirement readiness, we also wanted […]
As if preparing for retirement wasn’t already a steep challenge, along comes the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the global economy, throwing up even more obstacles for capital accumulation plan members to maneuver. This year’s annual CAP Member Survey, supported by Actuarial Solutions Inc. and Morneau Shepell Ltd., fielded its questions between March 30 […]
While some defined contribution pension plan members may push their retirement plans back because of market turmoil caused by the coronavirus, others won’t be willing to do so. Those soon-to-be retirees will have to take other measures to ensure they can retire, which will likely include diversifying their potential sources of retirement income, according to […]
In the group benefits world, the first rumblings of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic came when plan sponsors started asking, as early as January, about their travel insurance provisions. “Clients were worried about their business travellers and expatriate employees, in China mostly, and afterwards for their employees travelling for their winter vacations,” said Daniel […]
The leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party is calling on the provincial government to implement binding arbitration to end the months-long lockout and pension dispute between Federated Co-operatives Ltd. and its refinery workers. “This lockout has gone on far too long. The premier needs to show leadership and bring it to an end,” said Ryan Meili, […]
Defined contribution pension plan sponsors may face workforce planning challenges coming out of the coronavirus pandemic as older plan members whose account balances were hard hit by this year’s market volatility delay their retirements. “We saw a lot of presenteeism coming out of the [global financial crisis] — are we going to see that again?” asks […]
While the coronavirus pandemic certainly doesn’t change pension plan sponsors’ fundamental fiduciary duty to their plan members, the crisis is creating circumstances that will test how that responsibility manifests. Fiduciary duty arises when one party has a certain vulnerability in respect to another party, said Kenneth Burns, partner at Lawson Lundell LLP, in a webinar roundtable hosted by the […]
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted U.S. employers to make several changes to their health and retirement offerings, according to a new survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. On the health benefits side, nearly all respondents (98 per cent) said they’re offering virtual health services, up 10 per cent from before the pandemic. And nearly half […]