As if preparing for retirement wasn’t already a steep challenge, along comes the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the global economy, throwing up even more obstacles for capital accumulation plan members to maneuver. This year’s annual CAP Member Survey, supported by Actuarial Solutions Inc. and Morneau Shepell Ltd., fielded its questions between March 30 […]
The Saskatchewan Pension Plan is improving investment choice for members in the accumulation phase and introducing new options to help them through decumulation as well. Leading up to retirement, SPP members are defaulted into a balanced fund, which has been in place since the plan started in 1986. In 2010, it introduced a short-term fund, […]
The market value of assets in Canadian employer-sponsored pension plans rose to $2.09 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2019, up 2.3 per cent from the previous quarter, according to new data from Statistics Canada. All investment categories saw growth, led by real estate (4.9 per cent) and public equities (4.5 per cent), with mortgages […]
A new paper is evaluating how global retirement systems are faring in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and what reforms will be required to facilitate the retirements of future generations. The paper, ‘Building better retirement systems in the wake of the global pandemic,’ by Olivia Mitchell, a professor and executive director of the pension research council […]
Employers that act as pension plan administrators have statutory fiduciary duties that are defined by the plan documents and by governing pension legislation. While those duties continue to apply during the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting market volatility, they require even more careful navigation, as cash flow and internal corporate resources may be strained. Pension regulators across […]
While some defined contribution pension plan members may push their retirement plans back because of market turmoil caused by the coronavirus, others won’t be willing to do so. Those soon-to-be retirees will have to take other measures to ensure they can retire, which will likely include diversifying their potential sources of retirement income, according to […]
The federal government and several provinces are signing a new agreement regarding administration and regulation of multi-jurisdictional pension plans. The provincial governments of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are all on board with the agreement, which replaces the 2016 version, only signed by some provinces; a 1968 reciprocal agreement signed between all […]
In the group benefits world, the first rumblings of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic came when plan sponsors started asking, as early as January, about their travel insurance provisions. “Clients were worried about their business travellers and expatriate employees, in China mostly, and afterwards for their employees travelling for their winter vacations,” said Daniel […]
The Association of Canadian Pension Management’s Alberta regional council is highlighting the need for “made-in-Alberta” measures focused on pension plan sponsors, administrators and members due to the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic. In a submission to the provincial government, the council listed recommendations around pension contributions and funding, commuted values, plan administration, defined contribution […]
The leader of the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party is calling on the provincial government to implement binding arbitration to end the months-long lockout and pension dispute between Federated Co-operatives Ltd. and its refinery workers. “This lockout has gone on far too long. The premier needs to show leadership and bring it to an end,” said Ryan Meili, […]