In a letter to the tax branch of the Department of Finance, the Association of Canadian Pension Management said it would be reasonable for certain large defined contribution pension plans to be issuers of advanced life deferred annuities. According to the current Income Tax Act, only a licensed annuity provider can issue an ALDA. However, the ACPM […]
While defined contribution pension plans evolve and defined benefit plans decline, the McGill University pension plan is a true blend of both types — at least for some employees. When Sebastien Betermier, an associate professor of finance at the university’s Desautels Faculty of Management, joined the plan after 2009, a DC arrangement was available for […]
The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario is seeking applications for four new technical advisory committees for the pension sector. As the regulator announced in July 2019, the committees will aim to address challenges specific to defined benefit single-employer pension plans, defined contribution plans, multi-employer plans and public sector plans. Read: FSRA creates new advisory committees on pension sector matters […]
While group retirement compliance is a legal requirement in the U.S., Canadian plan sponsors only have a set of guidelines and best practices to follow. These are in place to help plan sponsors maintain fiduciary responsibility by keeping the interest of the plan member at the forefront of decisions regarding their group retirement plan. One […]
Unionized employees at Dearborn Ford in Kamloops, B.C. are receiving a pension boost and wage increases in a new three-year contract, which they voted to ratify earlier this week. The agreement, which applies to 43 workers represented by Unifor Local 10-B, includes a 0.25 per cent increase to employer contributions in the defined contribution pension plan, a 2.5 […]
General Electric Co. is freezing its U.S. defined benefit pension plan for about 20,000 employees with salaried benefits, reducing its pension deficit by between US$5 million and US$8 million. The affected employees will cease accruing additional benefits or make employee contributions after Jan. 1, 2021, but benefits accrued until Dec. 31, 2020 will be unaffected. As of the […]
The Pension Investment Association of Canada is concerned draft legislation on variable payment life annuities doesn’t do enough to help small defined contribution pension plans use them. In a letter to Finance Minister Bill Morneau, the PIAC noted VLPAs, which were introduced in the 2019 federal budget, are a solution of great interest to its membership. […]
The Ontario Medical Association is partnering with Common Wealth to offer its physician members and their spouses access to a retirement plan. The Advantages Retirement Plan, which will be rolled out later this year, is the result of more than two years of research on physician retirement readiness and input from OMA members. A survey conduced […]
Fee compression is putting pressure on providers that are seeking to be more innovative in launching new target-date funds, prompting managers to consider more customization, according to new research by Cerulli Associates. The fee compression challenge is bolstering certain trends among target-date managers, including blending passive and active strategies, as well as the push towards […]
While target-date funds are intended to be used as a singular option in capital accumulation plans, many defined contribution plan members use them in conjunction with other investments, according to research by Morningstar Inc. The report noted more than 10 million DC participants are potentially in TDFs and other plan investments. “While combining target-date funds with […]