Despite significant improvements recently to pension plan solvency levels, the start of 2018 has been a challenging one for institutional investors. Shifting monetary policies have put pressure on bond portfolios, while rising yields have started to affect the equity markets. On the equity side, the S&P/TSX composite index has gone from a high of almost […]
A prescription drug cap is among the issues in a strike by United Steelworkers union members in western Labrador. The union members work for the Iron Ore Co. of Canada, a joint venture involving Rio Tinto, which holds 58.7 per cent, Mitsubishi Corp. and the Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Income Corp. According to the CBC, the […]
In spite of volatile public equity markets, the median solvency ratio for Ontario’s defined benefit pension plans was slightly higher at 95 per cent for the first quarter of 2018, compared to 94 per cent at the end of 2017, according to the Financial Services Commission of Ontario’s latest quarterly report. Equity markets were down in the first […]
Hub International Ltd. has acquired yet another benefits brokerage: Quebec-based Les Avantages Sociaux Delta Inc. Based in the Montreal area, Delta provides support and actuarial services for group insurance and retirement plans, as well as human resources and disability management. With the acquisition, Delta will join Hub’s Quebec business. Delta’s founder and chairman, Roger d’Eschambault, […]
April has been a busy month for the world of defined benefit pension plans. In recent weeks, both the OPSEU Pension Trust and the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology pension plan have announced plans to offer new defined benefit options to other employers. OPTrust is further along in its journey, since its new offering, called […]
Several of the regulations under Ontario’s new framework for defined benefit pension plans are coming into effect today. “It’s the most comprehensive we’ve seen certainly in my pension lifetime,” says Linda Byron, senior partner at Aon, of Ontario’s suite of pension reforms. As of May 1, 2018, the amortization period for funding a going-concern shortfall […]
The Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology pension plan is looking to launch a new defined benefit pension plan that will be available to workplaces in the broader public, private and not-for-profit sectors across Canada. The new plan, called DBplus, is subject to board approval on May 30. The new plan will have a likely […]
Whatever the fate of Sears Holdings Corp.’s operations in the United States, the company’s American pensioners are likely to emerge better off than their Canadian counterparts. Much of that is due to the broad powers available to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which regulates pensions in the United States. “The PBGC can act pre-emptively, and it […]
As Ontarians prepare for the upcoming provincial election campaign, the province’s auditor general is raising the stakes in her dispute with the government about its accounting treatment of two of its biggest public pension plans. On Wednesday, auditor general Bonnie Lysyk released her report into the government’s budget projections ahead of the June election. In […]
As of July 1, 2018, new provisions under Ontario’s Pension Benefits Act will allow the sponsors of defined benefit pension plans to obtain a discharge from their obligations to former and retired plan members for whom they’ve purchased an annuity. Under the changes, plan sponsors will need to fulfil certain requirements before they can obtain a […]