Despite significant improvements recently to pension plan solvency levels, the start of 2018 has been a challenging one for institutional investors. Shifting monetary policies have put pressure on bond portfolios, while rising yields have started to affect the equity markets. On the equity side, the S&P/TSX composite index has gone from a high of almost […]
Several of the regulations under Ontario’s new framework for defined benefit pension plans are coming into effect today. “It’s the most comprehensive we’ve seen certainly in my pension lifetime,” says Linda Byron, senior partner at Aon, of Ontario’s suite of pension reforms. As of May 1, 2018, the amortization period for funding a going-concern shortfall […]
Whatever the fate of Sears Holdings Corp.’s operations in the United States, the company’s American pensioners are likely to emerge better off than their Canadian counterparts. Much of that is due to the broad powers available to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which regulates pensions in the United States. “The PBGC can act pre-emptively, and it […]
As of July 1, 2018, new provisions under Ontario’s Pension Benefits Act will allow the sponsors of defined benefit pension plans to obtain a discharge from their obligations to former and retired plan members for whom they’ve purchased an annuity. Under the changes, plan sponsors will need to fulfil certain requirements before they can obtain a […]
Stelco Inc’s owner paid $142 million into the company’s pension plans at the end of March, bringing them to a funded status of 85 per cent on a solvency basis. In addition to the $142 million, Stelco’s owner Bedrock Industries Group has injected two previous payments totalling $50 million into the plans since July 1, 2017, […]
Solvency levels for Canadian defined benefit pension plans came down slightly in the first quarter of 2018, according to Aon’s monthly survey. It found, after decade-high levels in the last quarter of 2017, defined benefit plans had a median solvency ratio of 98.7 per cent as of April 1, 2018, falling slightly from 99.2 per cent in the […]
The Pension Investment Association of Canada is calling out Ontario’s proposed defined benefit solvency funding framework for its lack of solvency reserve account structures, a model that exists in the regulatory landscapes in Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec. In a letter to Charles Sousa, the province’s minister of finance, the association’s chair Brenda King notes it has advocated in favour […]
The median solvency ratio for Canadian defined benefit pension plans dropped slightly in February as equity markets stalled, falling to 99.8 per cent from 101.3 per cent in January, according to Aon’s monthly survey. January’s solvency ratio was the highest since 2002, noted the survey. However, nearly half (49.6 per cent) of plans were more than fully funded […]
The Canadian Institute of Actuaries has responded to Ontario’s description of its proposed funding rules for defined benefit plans. While the provincial government’s document, published in December 2017, included details on how the provision for adverse deviations would work under proposed new going-concern rules, the Canadian Institute of Actuaries’ submission says more information is required on how these were established. “We encourage the Ministry […]
A group of Sears Canada Inc. pensioners will ask the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Thursday to appoint a litigation trustee to review certain actions leading up to the company’s restructuring proceedings in 2017. According to a notice of motion filed on Feb. 9, 2018, former Ontario Superior Court justice Frank Newbould, the group’s proposed trustee, would review, among other […]