The funded ratio of the 100 largest U.S. public defined benefit pension plans increased to 76.8 per cent as of July 31, up from 75.8 per cent at the end of June, according to a new report by consulting firm Milliman Inc. It found a second consecutive month of positive market performance drove this result, […]
Spain’s left-wing government won the backing of unions to reform the nation’s public pension system on Wednesday, in stark contrast with neighbouring France, where plans to raise the retirement age have led to waves of strikes and mass protests. The leaders of Spain’s two main labour unions, UGT and CC.OO., appeared alongside Minister of Social Security […]
It’s no secret there’s a looming retirement savings gap among Indigenous and racialized Canadian seniors and their white counterparts. Indeed, a June 2021 study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives found data from the 2016 census showed white seniors’ income from private pension sources — such as registered pension plans and registered retirement savings […]
Stories delving into how employers and employees are dealing with returning to the workplace dominated the top stories over the past week on BenefitsCanada.com, with three of the five stories focusing on this timely topic. Here are the five most popular news stories of the week: 1. RBC focusing on mental health as hybrid work model rolls out 2. SAP […]
Indigenous and racialized seniors have less retirement security and higher poverty rates than white seniors in Canada, according to a new report by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Based on data from the 2016 census, the report found Indigenous seniors have an average income of $32,200 and a poverty rate of 21.5 per cent, […]
An environmental coalition is appealing to Ontario teachers to pressure their pension fund to divest from companies that develop or transport fossil fuel products. In a four-minute YouTube video, a group of students from across Ontario read a letter to their teachers, asking them to push the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan to stop investing their […]
The Public Service Alliance of Canada is reiterating a call for its pension investment manager to divest its ownership in Revera Inc. over the company’s safety record during the coronavirus pandemic, saying the fund should “pull out of the business of long-term care” altogether. The public sector union, which represents 140,000 public sector pension plan members, first said […]
For years, a major public sector pension governance time bomb has been hidden in plain sight. But it may be too late to alert the bomb squad; the coronavirus pandemic and climate change may have already activated a countdown that can’t be stopped. Investment management is a key component of sustainability and central to any pension governance […]
The Canada Climate Law Initiative is calling into question whether the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is sufficiently aligning its investments with the transition to a low-carbon economy. In a legal analysis, the organization said the pension fund’s current allocations to high-carbon assets reveal a “troubling incrementalism” within its efforts to mitigate Canadians’ exposure to […]
Faced with ballooning and unsustainable public pension liabilities, Taiwan’s government was forced to make a tough decision. In 2017, the country’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party passed a bill to dramatically cut retirement benefits for the country’s civil servants, public school teachers, police officers, firefighters and private sector workers. The changes were unpopular, but necessary. Underfunded […]