A recent Quebec Superior Court decision has unleashed uncertainty over the liabilities of companies and their directors when a pension deficit appears in the context of a reorganization. The court authorized a group of defined benefit pension plan members to proceed with a $65 million class action against companies involved in a 2011 reorganization. The […]
With many Canadian defined benefit pension plans in a strong funded position, plan sponsors, particularly those with unionized workforces, are increasingly discussing the use of surplus funds, says Gavin Benjamin, a partner in the retirement and benefits solutions practice at Telus Health. The funded position of a typical Canadian defined benefit pension plan rose on […]
The estimated funded status of the 100 largest U.S. public defined benefit pension plans rose to 79.9 per cent in June, from 79.4 per cent at the end of May, according to a new report by Milliman Inc. It found public DB plans in the report saw individual estimated returns ranging between 0.4 per cent […]
One of the many consequences of the coronavirus pandemic was an unprecedented interest in the life expectancy of Canadians. While the increased focus on life expectancy seemed to wane once the worst of the pandemic had passed, a recent report by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries on mortality improvements has brought the topic of life […]
The estimated cost to transfer retiree pension risk to an insurer in a competitive bidding process increased from 100.3 per cent of a plan’s accounting liabilities in March to 100.9 per cent in April, according to Milliman Inc.’s latest pension buyout index. The index uses the FTSE above median AA curve and annuity purchase composite […]
The recent pressure put on Canadian pensions plans from private managers and governments to re-discover an investment home bias has been met with little enthusiasm, despite special interest by both federal and provincial governments to potentially tap pension fund capital for infrastructure given that current expenditure eats up a large share of the budget. Infrastructure […]
The funded ratio of U.S. corporate defined benefit pension plans declined to 98.5 per cent in fiscal 2023 from 99.4 per cent in 2022, according to a new report by Milliman Inc. The report, which reviews the financial disclosures of the 100 largest U.S. public corporate DB plans, found their average return on investments was […]
The median solvency ratio of Canadian defined benefit pension plans increased two per cent in the first quarter of 2024, according to a report by Mercer. The report, which tracks more than 450 DB pension plans, found the median solvency ratio grew to 118 per cent, as at March 29, 2024, from 116 per cent […]
The funded ratio of the 100 largest U.S. public defined benefit pension plans rose to 78.6 per cent as of Feb. 29, up from 77.7 per cent at the end of January, according to Milliman Inc.’s latest public pension funding index. Individually, public pension plans returned between an estimated 0.0 per cent to 3.2 per cent […]
Ford of Canada’s recent transfer of $923 million in pension liabilities to Desjardins Group, RBC Insurance and Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada augurs well for what has been a rapidly expanding group annuity buyout and buy-in market. “As of 2013, the group annuity market amounted to about $1 billion annually,” says Charbel Assal, senior […]