A Danish defined benefit pension fund is ceasing its investments in Russian assets following recent developments in the ongoing crisis between the world’s largest nation and Ukraine. On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his government would recognize the independence of two territories in eastern Ukraine: Donetsk and Luhansk. In response, the AkademikerPension, a US$23 […]
The Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities is establishing a new committee with a mandate to develop a risk management guideline for pension plans. The committee has been established in response to the International Monetary Fund’s call to regulators to strengthen their oversight of large pension plans and gain a greater understanding of vulnerabilities in […]
The strength of equities was among the factors pushing the transaction volume of Canada’s group annuities market to a record high in 2021, according to experts. According to a recent report by LifeWorks Inc., the total volume of group annuities sold in Canada reached $7.5 billion in 2021, up 70 per cent from the previous […]
The average Ontario defined benefit pension plan is in the best funded position since December 2009, according to the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario’s latest quarterly solvency report. It found 81 per cent DB plans had a solvency ratio greater than 100 per cent at the end of 2021, compared to 67 per cent […]
The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario is consulting on proposed pension benefits guarantee fund assessment deadlines and calculations guidance, which is designed to assist plan administrators in maintaining compliance with the Pension Benefits Act. The proposed guidance includes: that the deadline for paying the assessment is nine months after the fiscal year end, whether the pension plan […]
An eight-year legal effort to reverse a law that transformed New Brunswick’s public sector pension plan away from an indexed defined benefits model is being scrapped. Pension Coalition NB, an association that represents 13,000 public sector retirees in the province, will end its legal efforts to oppose a 2013 bill that transformed N.B.’s public sector pensions […]
The Nova Scotia Pension Services Corp. is appointing Steve Mahoney as its new chief investment officer, effective April 1, 2022. He’s taking over the CIO role from Elizabeth Vandenberg, who’s retiring after serving two decades with the N.S. Pension and its predecessors in various investment management positions. With more than 20 years in institutional investing […]
The Pension Investment Association is appointing a new chair, vice-chair and secretary-treasurer for 2022. Sean Hewitt, chief executive officer of the Toronto Transit Commission Pension Fund Society, is the organization’s new chair. His previous roles include director of pension assets at the Canadian Pacific Railway Co. and senior analyst of investments at Mercer Canada. Read: How […]
Manitoba is amending its pension regulatory system in order to strengthen the province’s pension regulatory and solvency framework. The changes, which took effect on Dec. 20, 2021, establish new rules for the funding of private sector defined benefit pension plans, including reducing the solvency deficiency threshold at which special payments must be made from 100 […]
Defined benefit pension plans offer substantial cost advantages over 401(k)-style defined contribution plans, according to a new report by the National Institute on Retirement Security. The U.S. report found a typical DB pension — with advantages based on longevity risk pooling, asset allocation, low fees and professional management — has a 49 per cent cost advantage […]