British Columbia’s College Pension Plan board of trustees selection panel has appointed Bita Jenab as its director of research and analysis for the college and public service pension plans. Jenab has more than 30 years of consulting experience and extensive experience as a consulting actuary working with jointly sponsored pension boards. She will provide the board with strategic […]
Canadian defined benefit pension plans finished 2018 in negative territory, according to two new reports. Pension plans in RBC Investor & Treasury Services’ universe posted an annual return of negative 0.7 per cent, reversing gains from the previous three quarters of the year, and substantially lower than 2017’s annual return of 9.7 per cent. Canadian equities and […]
Based on the five options put forward in British Columbia’s consultation on reforming pension solvency rules, the option to replace the current requirements with enhanced going-concern funding requirements is the favoured course of action, according to the Association of Canadian Pension Management. In its letter to the B.C. government in response to the consultation, which […]
The high discount rates used by many Canadian public-sector pension plans increase the risk they won’t have enough funds to meet future obligations, according to new research by the C.D. Howe Institute “Employers and employees have an incentive to keep the discount rate high in order to reduce the contributions they pay today,” said Constance Smith, co-author […]
Postmedia Network Inc. has entered an agreement to merge its pension plans with the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology pension plan. The merger of the Postmedia plans will be effective July 1, 2019, subject to approvals by the CAAT’s board of trustees and sponsors’ committee, as well as approval from Postmedia’s plan members and the Financial Services […]
Benefits Canada’s inaugural Investor Insight Breakfast, held on Jan. 10 in Toronto, highlighted the expectations and projections for the 2019 investment climate, including opportunities for the pension industry. Here are some of the highlights of the sessions: A look at macro trends driving DB pension investment strategies It’s too early in the rise of populism […]
In this late-cycle environment, the Hydro Québec pension plan is cautious about credit and is maintaining its liquidity, according to Jean-François Pépin, senior director of financing, treasury and pension fund at Hydro Québec. At the end of 2017, the defined benefit plan had $24.7 billion in net assets. Invested in a variety of asset classes, including […]
The union representing 1,900 non-academic workers at the University of Saskatchewan is raising objections to a proposal the school has tabled to eliminate its defined benefit pension plan replace it with a defined contribution or target-benefit plan. In December, the Canadian Union of Public Employees’ bargaining committee proposed a jointly sponsored DB plan as a compromise, said […]
Three-quarters (76 per cent) of U.S. defined benefit plan sponsors with de-risking goals intend to completely divest all of their DB plan liabilities at some point in the future, according to MetLife’ annual pension risk transfer survey. Among all plan sponsors surveyed 10 per cent said they’ll completely divest their plans within the next two years; 24 per […]
The Association of Canadian Pension Management is calling on the federal government to take caution in creating any new significant disincentives “that would push more corporations to abandon their DB plans.” In its response to the government’s consultation on enhancing Canadians’ retirement security, the association said the best protection for workers’ and retirees’ pensions is a strong employer. […]