An article on how a national drug pooling program would impact employer-sponsored benefits plans was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com this past week. Here are the top five human resources, benefits, pension and investment stories of the last week: 1. How would a national drug pooling program impact employer-sponsored benefits plans? 2. Leadership changes at the AIMCo […]
Increased deal-making in the Canadian annuities market is adding pressure to defined benefit plan sponsors seeking to de-risk their plans, says Jason Vary, president of Actuarial Solutions Inc. “[The market is] getting worse,” he says. “This year, I’ve had some experiences where we’re placing some small annuities, under $5 million, and we really struggled to […]
For the fourth year in a row, five Canadian pension funds are among the most transparent in the world, according to the global pension transparency benchmark, a collaboration between Top1000funds.com and CEM Benchmarking Inc. The benchmark, launched in 2021, measures the transparency of disclosures of 15 pension systems across measurements such as cost, governance, performance […]
British Treasury chief Rachel Reeves said Thursday the government planned to merge dozens of pension funds with the aim of unlocking tens of billions of pounds for investment and boosting the U.K.’s subpar economic growth. Reeves said in her speech to finance leaders in central London that the creation of so-called “megafunds” will represent the […]
An article on incoming changes to Nova Scotia’s provincial Pension Benefits Act was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com this past week. Here are the top five human resources, benefits, pension and investment stories of the last week: 1. Nova Scotia to allow unlocking of pension benefits 2. Alberta government fires AIMCo CEO, board, citing rising costs and poor […]
Roughly two-fifths (38 per cent) of U.S. institutional investors say they incorporate environmental, social and governance factors into investment decisions, according to a new survey by Callan. The survey — which polled roughly 90 institutional investors, including public and corporate defined benefit and defined contribution pension plans, as well as endowments and foundations — found […]
The ratio of the market value of assets to the projected benefit obligation for a hypothetical benchmark plan changed little for global defined benefit pension plans in the third quarter of 2024, according to a new report by WTW. It found this ratio increased among DB plans in Brazil (0.9 per cent), Canada (1.2 per […]
In its fall economic statement on Wednesday, the Ontario government said it plans to consult with pension industry stakeholders on the possibility of offering variable life benefits to employees in the province. In 2021, the federal government made amendments to the federal Income Tax Act to permit Canadian jurisdictions to regulate this new pension option, […]
Defined benefit pension plans support more than one million beneficiaries in Ontario and these benefits provided more than $34.6 billion to the province’s gross domestic product in 2023, according to a new report by the Conference Board of Canada on behalf of the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, the OPSEU Pension Trust and the University […]
The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence tools in financial industries represents an evolving risk to institutional investors, according to a new report by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions. The financial regulator noted rapid developments in the generative AI space have resulted in an increased adoption of AI tools in financial industries. While […]