The work performed by the Office of the Chief Actuary on the 23rd Actuarial Report on the Canada Pension Plan meets all professional standards of practice and statutory requirements, according to an external peer panel. The panel also finds that the assumptions and methods used in the report are reasonable. “The findings are very positive […]
The head of the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions said Tuesday that OSFI’s role is to regulate banks, not to regulate the third-party asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) market. “There are a lot of parties that play a role in financial stability. We are but one,” said superintendent Julie Dickson at a press conference […]
As the popularity of defined contribution (DC) plans grows, sponsors in the United States are taking a number of positive steps to help their employees, finds a study by Greenwich Associates. More than one-third of DC plan sponsors are using automatic enrollment in their 401(k) plans, up from about one-quarter of plans in 2006. Among […]
More than two-thirds of Americans between the ages of 27 and 42—members of generation X—expect they’ll have a gradual retirement and some expect they won’t be able to retire at all, according to a survey. The survey, commissioned by Scottrade and BetterInvesting, finds that 43% percent of gen Xers feel they will never be able […]
Canadian pension plans lost ground for the third consecutive quarter as equity markets continued to fall, according to an RBC Dexia Investor Services survey. Pension funds slipped 1.9% in the first quarter, pushing losses to -2.7% for the latest 12-month period. Global equity was the hardest hit asset class this quarter, although a weaker Canadian […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has taken a $1.9 billion provision for its investment in third-party asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP), according to its annual report. At the end of last year, the fund held $12.6 billion of third-party ABCP being restructured with a fair value estimated at $10.7 billion. The difference of […]
The Toronto Transit Commission’s workers could walk off the job Monday morning unless the city offers them a better pension and benefits package. “It’s time to stop treating TTC workers worse than City of Toronto workers when it comes to job injuries, benefits and pensions,” says Bob Kinnear, president of the Toronto Transit Workers union […]
Municipal pension plan sponsors in the United States expect their investment portfolios to outperform the market by 146 basis points annually over the next five years, finds a Greenwich Associates study. The firm says these expectations might be a little unrealistic. “Few individual investment managers have ever generated 100 bps of annual alpha on a […]
Employees at larger companies are usually happier about their jobs than those at smaller firms, according to a study. The study surveyed more than 31,000 employees from Canada, the United States and Mexico between 2002 and 2007. It was conducted by The Beacon Group, a Toronto-based HR advisement and services firm. Organizations with more than […]
The decline of defined benefit plans is being exacerbated by federal laws and regulations that foster employer underfunding, says a C.D. Howe Institute study. The study—Lifting the Lid on Pension Funding: Why Income-Tax-Act Limits on Contributions Should Rise—says the prohibition by the federal Income Tax Act of sponsor contributions to such plans when their assets […]