Canadian defined benefit pension plans posted a higher median solvency ratio at the end of the second quarter of 2018 in comparison to earlier in the year, according to new data from Aon. The median solvency ratio reached 100.2 per cent, which was up from 98.7 per cent in the first quarter of the year. […]
Canada’s defined benefit pension plans saw continued improvements in their solvency positions during the second quarter of 2018, according to Mercer’s latest pension health index. Representing the solvency of a hypothetical plan, the index stood at 107 per cent as of June 29, 2018, up one percentage point from the end of the first quarter. […]
Ken Eady understands the challenges a defined benefit pension plan can present for plan sponsors, particularly when they find themselves in financial difficulty. “Healthy companies aren’t always too crazy about the liability, so it can become a heavy weight to carry when there is trouble maintaining financial status. That’s why they seem to generally be […]
Sears Canada Inc. retirees are facing clawbacks to their pensions due to 10 months of overpayments. Since October 2017, the retailer’s former employees have been receiving 100 per cent of their entitlement, rather than the reduced rate that aligns with the plan’s underfunded status. Morneau Shepell Ltd., the firm overseeing the plan’s windup process, originally […]
Lower bond yields and mixed markets drove down the median solvency ratio of Canadian defined benefit plans in May, according to Aon’s monthly survey. On June 1, 2018, the median solvency ratio stood at 100 per cent, a drop of 1.7 percentage points since the end of April. Half (51 per cent) of the plans surveyed were […]
Canadian group annuity sales reached an estimated $1 billion in the first quarter of 2018, according to Willis Towers Watson’s quarterly update. The significant volume of activity is largely due to a single large transaction. Recently, Alcoa Corp. completed an annuity buyout worth more than $700 million for about 2,100 pension plan members across Canada. […]
A new report by the C.D. Howe Institute says taxpayers are on the hook for the unfunded liability of pension plans for federal employees. In the report, authors William Robson and Alexandre Laurin argue that official figures for federal pension obligations understate future costs and leave many plans seriously underfunded. “The federal government in particular presents […]
The terms of a settlement for Wabush Mines’ former employees and retirees are now available, including an $18-million payment to address a $28-million pension shortfall and an estimated $10.9 million to compensate for the loss of health benefits. The settlement affects 1,700 pensioners and former unionized employees of the Newfoundland and Labrador-based mine owned by Cleveland Cliffs Inc., according […]
Three years after Wabush Mines filed for restructuring, its former employees and retirees will see an increase to their pensions, following a previous reduction of between 21 and 25 per cent, as a result of a proposed settlement in the matter. While the amounts won’t be public until the court overseeing the company’s insolvency approves a settlement in principle, […]
Sears Canada Inc. pension plan members are facing bleak prospects for getting their full pension payouts, according to a Toronto bankruptcy lawyer. “They won’t be made whole, regardless of how we look at this,” says Lou Brzezinski, a partner at Blaney McMurty LLP. The comments follow the filing of a recent affidavit by Philip Mohtadi, […]