Members of Puerto Rico’s public sector pension plans are facing a benefits freeze and the transformation of their defined benefits plans to defined contribution plans. The decision to cut changed the plans was made as a result of an ongoing financial crisis in the most populous U.S. territory. After it defaulted on bonds in 2014, politicians […]
The largest defined benefit pension plans in the U.S. saw average funded status improve by eight per cent in 2021, according to a new report by Willis Towers Watson. It found the country’s largest DB pension plans saw their average funded statuses reach 96 per cent last year, higher than at any point since 2007. […]
As a new year dawns, our attention turns to what’s ahead, the following are a few of my predictions for trends in the world of pensions in 2022. Volatility We’re entering the year in an environment of considerable economic and financial market uncertainty. Supply chain problems, elevated price inflation and labour shortages in certain industries […]
New Brunswick’s new unclaimed property regime, which came into force on Jan. 1, 2022 and is the fourth such provincial regime in Canada, will finally allow defined benefit pension plan sponsors with unlocatable or missing members to fully windup their plans. The governing legislation, the Unclaimed Property Act, received Royal Assent in March 2021, but […]
Investors should expect the unexpected in 2022, according to George Athanassakos, professor of finance and the Ben Graham chair in value investing at Western University’s Ivey School of Business. “2022 is likely to be filled with hidden hazards, both known unknowns and unknown unknowns,” he wrote in an email to the Canadian Investment Review. This […]
The second year since the onset of the global coronavirus pandemic was a significant one for the human resources, benefits, pension and investment industries, particularly when it came to stories about vaccines. With more than three million page views on BenefitsCanada.com in 2021, here are the year’s most popular stories. What can employers do if […]
With Benefits Canada‘s companion publication the Canadian Investment Review integrating into BenefitsCanada.com in early 2021, many of the top investment stories of the year include CIR content, alongside stories from the print magazine and other investment trend stories. 2021 Top 100 Pension Funds Report: DB plans shining bright amid pandemic clouds Expert panel: When the […]
Among 2021’s most popular pension stories on BenefitsCanada.com, Benefits Canada and the Canadian Institutional Investment Network’s rankings of the top 100 defined benefit plans and top 50 defined contribution plans were nearly the bookends to the top 10. 2021 Top 100 Pension Funds Report: DB plans shining bright amid pandemic clouds CPP maximum pensionable earnings rising […]
In November, leading public intellectuals, pension leaders and investment experts joined delegates at the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2021 Investment Innovation Conference at the Pillar and Post Inn and Spa in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. During their presentations, the event’s speakers touched on a veritable smorgasbord of topics relevant to defined benefit pension plan sponsors. Despite the breadth […]
As the coronavirus pandemic sent the global economy into a tailspin, many Canadians grew increasingly concerned about whether they’d amassed enough savings to weather the financial storm. “We’ve heard the narrative that Canadians are saving like they’ve never saved before,” says Elizabeth Mulholland, chief executive officer of Prosper Canada. “The reality is, when you look […]