The median solvency ratio of Canadian defined benefit pension plans declined to 96.5 per cent in August, amid rising global political instability and subdued equity market returns, according to Aon Hewitt. Its monthly survey, which tracks the performance of the defined benefit plans it administers and calculates their solvency ratios by measuring assets over liabilities, […]
New draft regulations published in Quebec this summer address policies around annuity purchases for defined benefit pension plans for the first time. Industry stakeholders have been expecting the province’s regulations, which are currently under consultation, since Jan. 1, 2016, when Quebec implemented legislative changes that replaced its solvency regime with enhanced going-concern funding rules and required […]
Public pension plans are beneficial to taxpayers, according to a new report that suggests tax revenues created through retiree spending and pension investments may actually exceed what the public pays into them. The report, from a series by the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems in Washington, looks into several arguments used to discredit public pension funds […]
Among those with the most to worry about when a company as big as Sears Canada Inc. enters restructuring proceedings are the members of the pension plan. In the case of Sears employees, the company has a significant shortfall in its defined benefit pension plan despite closing it to new entrants in 2008. According to […]
Former Sears Canada Inc. employees who opt to take the commuted value of their defined benefit pension are facing an immediate 19 per cent reduction in their entitlements. According to an update to former employees from their legal counsel, Koskie Minsky LLP, the reduction is a result of the underfunding in the Sears pension plan. As […]
British Columbia’s pension regulator is cracking down on vague termination expense assumptions over fears unrealistic calculations have caused some plans to overstate their solvency ratios. “We’re becoming a little more rigorous in our expectations,” says Michael Peters, the acting superintendent of pensions at the Financial Institutions Commission of British Columbia in Vancouver. Guidance issued […]
General Mills Inc. will close its defined benefit pension plans to all American employees at the end of 2027, according to the company’s annual report. At the end of May 2017, the pension plans had US$5.925 billion in assets and US$6.459 billion in liabilities, notes the report. “The company will freeze the pay and service […]
Ontario will replace the temporary solvency funding exemption in place for specified multi-employer pension plans with a new target-benefit framework, the government announced Thursday. The interim exemption will extend to August 2018 as the government looks to introduce legislation in the fall and regulations next year. While Ontario’s new framework will permanently exempt collectively bargained […]
Canadian pension plan solvency has been fairly flat so far this year, but the numbers are up over last year, according to Mercer. At 93 per cent, the median solvency ratio of Mercer’s pension plan clients remains the same as the beginning of the year. Plans are in a significantly better position than they were a year […]
Alongside the Ontario government’s announcement earlier this month regarding a new funding framework for defined benefit pension plans in the province, it also said it would require plan administrators to establish written governance and funding policies. This move is one of a number of proposed measures designed to protect benefit security for members of defined […]