Despite year-to-date asset losses and historically high levels of inflation, most Canadian defined benefit pension plans are reporting increased funded positions in the second quarter of 2022, according to a report by Mercer Canada. It found the median solvency ratio increased from 108 per cent as at March 31 to 109 per cent as at […]
Higher long-term bond yields driven by rising interest rates are lowering the cost of annuity purchases for defined benefit pension plans, says Mary Kate Archibald, a principal at Eckler Ltd. Since January, the cost of an annuity purchase has decreased by between 10 and 15 per cent, as long-term bond yields increased from 1.7 to […]
The average Canadian defined benefit pension plan saw improvements in its solvency position in May, according to LifeWorks Inc.’s latest monthly report. An investment portfolio designed to mimic that of a typical pension saw its assets decline by 0.4 per cent over the month. Despite this, the solvency index, which provides an indication of changes […]
The Association of Canadian Pension Management is calling on the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions to provide more detail on how pension plans can enhance their investment risk management strategies. In an open letter responding to a consultation by the OSFI, Ric Marrero, chief executive officer of the ACPM, said while the paper […]
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 Nova Scotia Teachers’ Pension Plan exceeded its return benchmark in 2021, though its solvency ratio on a growing-concern basis remains underwater, according to its annual report. The defined benefit pension plan’s assets grew by 6.1 per cent last year, reaching $5.856 billion. Net investment returns, however, grew by 9.63 per cent, slightly higher than […]
The economic impact of the pandemic has been unevenly distributed across various industries, with travel and transportation among the hardest-hit sectors. However, while travel restrictions and subsequent employee layoffs in these industries made headlines throughout 2020 and 2021, the pension plans provided by these employers have largely weathered any economic fallout. The impact on air […]
While a typical Canadian defined benefit pension plan saw negative investment returns in March, it also improved on a solvency and accounting basis, according to a new report by LifeWorks Inc. Last month, the typical DB pension plan used in LifeWork’s monthly pension indices saw investments dip in value by 0.4 per cent as a […]
The average solvency ratio of Canadian defined benefit pension plans in Mercer’s database increased five percentage points in the first quarter of 2022, according to a new report by the consultancy. The report, which assessed the performance of 464 pension plans, found as at March 31, 2022, the plans’ average solvency ratio reached 108 per […]
The second year of the coronavirus pandemic offered defined benefit pension plan sponsors a reprieve from the chaos sown in financial markets during its first year. “A lot of pension plans ended up roughly where they started in 2020, but it was a very bumpy road,” says Gavin Benjamin, a retirement and financial solutions partner […]