The Investment Industry Association of Canada is calling on the federal government to make improvements to tax-assisted retirement savings programs, modernize the country’s employment insurance system and introduce a benefit training program. In its written submission for the House of Commons standing committee on finance’s pre-budget consultations, the IIAC suggested the 2020 federal budget include […]
Whether it’s battling the challenges of plan maturity, increasing longevity, the changing nature of work or difficult financial markets, these so-called golden handcuffs are looking pretty dented in some cases. But the 10 years following the great financial crisis wasn’t all bad. Many public pension plans, as well as affiliated administrators and investment managers, have […]
For defined contribution plan members who were intending to retire in the first half of 2020, the market crash caused by the coronavirus may have upended those plans. Markets reached a trough in March, followed by some recovery, but with little clarity on what investments will do next, it’s a challenging time for plan members […]
While the Pension Investment Association of Canada strongly supports Nova Scotia’s recent pension funding changes, it’s calling on the provincial government to tweak the provision for adverse deviation calculation and access to solvency reserve accounts. Nova Scotia’s pension funding changes took effect on April 1, reducing solvency funding to 85 per cent, with any shortfalls required to be […]
A new report by a U.K.-based think tank is suggesting public policy should shift to allow pension plan investments to help bolster the country’s infrastructure needs. The report, by the Social Market Foundation, urged the government to foster the growth of fewer, but larger, pensions funds, with the scale to make major infrastructure investments. “Learning from Australia […]
More than 80 per cent of Canadians aged 25 to 64 are prepared for retirement and the vast majority have a high probability of being prepared, according to a new report by business school HEC Montréal’s Retirement and Savings Institute with funding from the Global Risk Institute. The report, which analyzed the results of a […]
Alberta’s Fair Deal panel is recommending that the provincial government withdraws from the Canada Pension Plan and creates its own, subject to a referendum. “The panel recommends vigorously exploring this option and conducting the due diligence needed to assure Albertans that benefits and risks are understood and can be positively managed,” wrote the panel. “Albertans will […]
As you’ll read in this issue’s cover story, our 2020 CAP Member Survey was fielded at the end of March and early April, targeting respondents as they were beginning to face the financial impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. While we still asked our annual questions about capital accumulation plan members’ retirement readiness, we also wanted […]
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 […]
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 […]