The announcement earlier this week of the merger—some say takeover—between TMX Group, operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange, and the London Stock Exchange (LSE) took the industry by surprise. The impact it will have on pension funds is highly dependent on how the deal shakes out. The deal could have a promising outcome for pension […]
“Why would I give money to a pension plan when retirement is so far away? That was one of the stupidest mistakes I ever made.” This, said Donald A. Stewart, chair of the task force and CEO of Sun Life Financial, was one of the many comments that Canadians shared with the Task Force on […]
Reducing healthcare costs is the age-old question that plan sponsors have been seeking the answer to. Are defined contribution (DC) benefits the answer? At the recent Human Resources Professionals Association conference in Toronto, Michael Trowell, assistant vice-president of Comprehensive Benefits Solutions Ltd., gave insight into just where this area of the market is headed because, […]
A new report from Statistic Canada, Retirement, health and employment among those 55 plus, gives insight into why people are retiring, how they are paying for retirement and why they return to work—helpful information for employers doing workforce planning. The study broke retirees into four categories. The “never-retired” are those 55 plus and currently working, […]
The healthcare landscape has drastically evolved since employers started implementing drug plans, but employers—and their consultants—have been slow to adapt to those changes, and their drug plans are now paying the price. “Changes in the market have been substantial, but plans haven’t changed too much. We need to evolve the plans more. Employers need to […]
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) has issued its Intervention Guide for Federally Regulated Private Pension Plans. This is the first time the regulator has issued such guidelines. An organization representative confirmed that the guide “is a result of revisions made to the supervisory framework made in 2009.” The guide outlines the […]
The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) is looking for the culprits that stymied the enhancements to the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). The CLC publicly announced that in late December 2010 the group filed two Access to Information requests to seek internal government and external lobbying materials related to the CPP and private sector pooled registered pension […]
Dubbed “Blue Monday,” January 17 (or the third Monday of January) is supposed to the most depressing day of the year. The day originated in Europe when a British academic put his name on a mathematical formula (which is said to have first started as a publicity campaign for a travel company) that combined weather, […]
Pooled registered pension plans (PRPPs) as a solution to increase pension coverage for Canadians is a notion that was widely supported in the industry when the government announced its commitment to move ahead with the strategy last month. As industry experts recognize that this is surely a step in the right direction, some feel it’s […]
The past year was a good investment year with positive stock market returns and a slight rebound in long-term federal bond yields in the fourth quarter. However, for many pension plans, there’s been no significant gain in funding status—unless it came from large voluntary deposits by the employer. Mercer released the results from its Pension […]