Canadian defined benefit pension plans posted a median three per cent return in 2020’s third quarter, buoyed by positive performance in equity markets, according to the RBC Investor & Treasury Services plan universe. Year-to-date, the median return was 5.2 per cent for the period ending Sept. 30, 2020. “Canadian defined benefit pension plans remained in […]
Alberta’s Local Authorities Pension Plan is cancelling its coordination option, citing regret and confusion from plan members who mistakenly accessed the feature without fully understanding the financial implications. According to a statement by the LAPP, coordination will be discontinued for members who start their pension on or after Jan. 1, 2021. It noted the option’s elimination will […]
Canada’s defined benefit pension plans posted a 3.2 per cent return in 2020’s third quarter, a position augmented by strong global equity markets, according to Northern Trust Canada’s pension universe. “The global pandemic has undoubtedly accelerated the pace of change for many defined benefit pension plans over the course of recent months, namely in the […]
In January 2020, the Canadian Institute of Actuaries released final changes to the actuarial standards of practice for calculating commuted values, with the changes scheduled to come into effect on Dec. 1, 2020. The changes will affect the lump-sum amounts paid from many Canadian defined benefit pension plans in situations such as: the termination of employment of […]
The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario is changing its process for consenting to asset transfers under the Pension Benefits Act, citing the province’s current state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic. Effective immediately, the new process will allow the FSRA to provide consent through a letter after a 10-day notice period, during which […]
The McGill University pension plan is appointing Sun Life Financial to provide administration services in collaboration with consultancy Normandin Beaudry. This is the second of the university’s plans to join Sun Life following its service employees union plan in 1996. In addition, with about 10,000 members, the plan is the largest in the province for which the insurer provides […]
While pension plan sponsors and the government have roles to play when it comes to retirement, it’s increasingly up to individual employees to ensure they have a solid retirement plan, said Jack Mintz, the president’s fellow at the University of Calgary’s school of public policy. During a virtual roundtable hosted by the Association of Canadian Pension […]
When the coronavirus pandemic hit, many organizations were focused on getting through the short term, but defined benefit pension plan sponsors are starting to take another look at de-risking. As of the second quarter of 2020, the total market volume of group annuity purchases year-to-date was $0.5 billion, compared to $1.5 billion in the first […]
Last week’s Supreme Court of Canada ruling that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police pension plan discriminated against job-sharing women should be a wake-up call to pension administrators that changes in plan design to accommodate equality rights are long overdue. “The negative pension consequences of job-sharing perpetuate a long-standing source of disadvantage to women: gender biases […]
While the overall financial state of Ontario’s defined benefit pension plans improved in 2019, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario continues to monitor fluctuations caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. In the FSRA’s new report, it projected the estimated going-concern and solvency funding positions of the province’s DB plans to a common year-end date. […]