The Ontario Pension Board, the administrator of province’s public service pension plan, generated a return of 9.4 per cent in 2021. In its yet-to-be released 2021 annual report, the OPB also reported its assets under management had grown to $33.8 billion, up from $31 billion the previous year. It also improved its solvency ratio by […]
The average funded status for the largest U.S. defined benefit pension plans was 93.8 per cent in 2021, up from 86.2 per cent in 2020 and reaching the highest level in 15 years, according to a new report by Russell Investments Group. The report, which analyzed 19 publicly listed U.S. corporations with more than US$20 […]
An article on British Columbia’s paramedics and their need for enhanced mental-health benefits was the most read story over the past week on BenefitsCanada.com. Here are the five most popular news stories of the week: 1. B.C. paramedics seeking enhanced mental-health benefits 2. Canadian pension plans overcoming legislation, governance challenges: webinar 3. Ontario’s DB pension plans should take steps […]
With Ontario’s defined benefit pension plans in their best financial shape since 2009, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario is advising plan sponsors and administrators to better prepare for the future. “They need a good sense of investment policies as well as how the plan itself may be affected [by different scenarios],” says Lester […]
The viability of a public defined benefit pension plan is best judged by its fiscal sustainability rather than its overall liabilities, according to a new report by the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems. The report, written by Michael Kahn, director of research at the NCPERS (pictured right), found fiscally sustainable pension plans have […]
The end of Canada’s quantitative easing strategy and higher than expected interest rates will be beneficial to Canadian defined benefit pension plans, according to Sebastien Betermier, an associate professor of finance at McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management. On Wednesday, Tiff Macklem, governor of the Bank of Canada, announced plans to end its quantitative easing policy and […]
Increasing yield for long-term government bonds and a flat credit spread through the third quarter of 2021 are driving up defined benefit pension liabilities, according to a new report by Aon. In the third quarter of 2021, long-term Government of Canada bond yields increased by 14 basis points while credit spreads remained largely unchanged. According […]
Despite market upheaval as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the Canadian pension risk transfer market had its third-best year for group annuity transactions, according to Eckler Ltd.’s latest report. By the end of 2020, pension risk transfer market transactions totalled $4.45 billion, only slightly behind 2018’s $4.5 billion but below 2019’s $5.2 billion, noted the report. […]
Two experts weigh in on the merits and drawbacks of taking the traditional annuities route versus opting for the newer do-it-yourself option. Marco Dickner, retirement risk management leader for Willis Towers Watson in Canada Although annuity purchases have become an important pension risk management option over the last decade, a countertrend is emerging for plan […]
The recent announcement that General Motors of Canada Co. purchased $1.8 billion of annuities for its salaried pension plan is creating a lot of excitement. GM Canada joins a growing list of plan sponsors who’ve purchased sizeable annuities in the last few years: Stelco Inc. ($885 million), Alcoa Corp. ($750 million), Rio Tinto Group ($560 […]