The Nova Scotia Teachers’ Pension Plan is bracing for the effect of the coronavirus pandemic on its assets as it reported a 78.2 per cent funded status on a going-concern basis — up from 75.3 per cent at the end of 2018 — and a $1.497-million deficit in its 2019 annual results. “While the plan remains […]
Air Canada’s domestic registered defined pension plans are expected to maintain a “significant pension solvency surplus,” according to a press release. On Monday, the Montreal-headquartered airline withdrew its previously announced first quarter and full year 2020 guidance, as well as its full year 2021 guidance. The ongoing coronavirus crisis means Air Canada “is facing a […]
In a historic move, the U.S. Federal Reserve lowered its target range for the federal funds rate to between zero and 0.25 per cent on Sunday. The Fed is taking the emergency action in a bid to help alleviate the extreme economic disruption caused by the spread of the coronavirus. It said it intends to […]
After a week that saw coronavirus worries wallop equity markets into correction territory, the U.S. Federal Reserve announced a 0.5 per cent rate cut on Tuesday morning. Following suit, the Bank of Canada cut its target for the overnight rate by 50 basis points on Wednesday, bringing it to 1.25 per cent. For the Fed, […]
The funded status of Segal Group Inc.’s model multi-employer pension plan increased three per cent in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to a new report by the actuarial firm. During the quarter, the funded status of the hypothetical plan rose from 92 per cent to 95 per cent. However, this compares to 98 per cent during […]
Institutional investors are grappling with historic levels of geopolitical tension, with multiple pain points contributing to a shifting macroeconomic landscape. But amid the whooshing sounds of headlines, quickly forgotten with the arrival of the next tweet, Canada’s pension plans are eyeing trade, interest rates and, ultimately, investment fundamentals, no matter which hashtags are trending. “Within […]
Against a backdrop of uncertainty, the OPSEU Pension Trust is guided by an investment strategy with certainty at its core. In 2015, the plan introduced what it calls a member-driven investing strategy, which is all about efficient risk allocation and earning the returns required to pay pensions at the lowest possible risk. “That’s different from […]
After years of consultation, the Canadian Institute of Actuaries’ Actuarial Standards Board has finalized changes to key components of how commuted values payable from pension plans are calculated. Among other applications, the commuted-value standard is used to determine how much to pay a terminating plan member who chooses to take their pension payment as a […]
When pension plans have access to a lot of forecasting information, it’s easy to be tempted into straying from an initial plan. Yet sticking to strategy is key, said Duncan Burrill, managing director and chief executive officer of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. pension fund, speaking at a Canadian Pension and Benefits Institute event in Toronto […]
Institutional investors have been going back and forth about whether monetary policy will provide the tailwinds to markets it did last year or whether central banks are running out of steam. Monetary policy decisions by the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and other developed market players did plenty to bolster markets in early 2019, […]