Few people have as clear a perspective on the differences between public sector defined benefit pension plans in Canada and the U.S. as Paul Matson. “I know the Canadian system,” said the executive director of the Arizona State Retirement System, during a session at the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2022 Investment Innovation Conference. “Before [the Alberta Investment […]
The world’s 42 largest public sector pension investment organizations saw their combined assets decline by nine per cent in the year ending June 30, 2022, according to a new report by data platform Global SWF. “The last time we saw a decline was 2015 but that was a small drop,” says Diego Lopez, founder and […]
The aggregate funded status of the largest U.S. corporate defined benefit pension plans ended 2022 at 95 per cent, unchanged from the beginning of the year, according to a new report by WTW. The report, which analyzed data from more than 350 Fortune 1000 companies that sponsor DB pension plans, found pension obligations declined 26 […]
Similar to 2022, the coming year will present both challenges and opportunities for defined benefit pension plan sponsors, with the rewards going to plan sponsors that are resilient, embrace change and are willing and able to act when opportunities arise. Several trends that will be top of mind in the year ahead are: Inflation The […]
U.S. defined contribution pension plan sponsors are increasingly offering custom target-date funds, according to a new report by the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association. The report, which analyzed 100 DC plans in both the public and private sectors, found the plan sponsors used more than 1,000 investment strategies involving custom target-date funds in 2021, up […]
The Alberta Investment Management Corp. has received a top grade in a survey of the environmental, social and governance integration and performance of signatories of the United Nations’ principles of responsible investing in 2021. The PRI, an organization founded by a group of institutional investment organizations, launched the pilot survey to track the ESG performance […]
In the Expert Commission on Pensions’ 2008 review of Ontario’s pension system, it recommended an agency or unit of the provincial government serve as a pension champion. According to the commission, the pension champion’s responsibilities would include working closely with stakeholders, promoting and facilitating innovation in the pension system and leading policy development efforts in […]
The market value of assets held by Canadian trusteed pension funds decreased 5.4 per cent to $2.1 trillion in the second quarter of 2022, down from $2.21 trillion in the previous quarter, according to new data from Statistics Canada. Trusteed pension funds posted a net loss of $3.4 billion in the second quarter, compared with […]
If there was one message for defined benefit pension plan sponsor delegates at the 2022 Defined Benefit Investment Forum, it was that the fate of global markets in 2023 is on a knife’s edge. In the keynote address, Douglas Porter, chief economist and managing director at BMO Financial Group, said he expects the Canadian economy […]
Consensus expectations for U.S. inflation and interest rates in 2023 are overly optimistic, said Robert Forsyth, head of SPDR exchange-traded funds strategy and research at State Street Global Advisors SPDR, during a session at the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2022 Defined Benefit Investment Forum. “Our view is that the futures market is still pricing in an […]