A study reveals there are several weaknesses regarding the governance of pension funds that still need to be addressed. The problems identified in the study by the Rotman International Centre for Pension Management range from poor practices in board member selection to organizational dysfunction. Weak oversight functions also have led to difficulties in sorting out […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and the Business Development Bank of Canada are creating a $330 million fund to invest in Canadian small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs). “Both our institutions want to support companies with strong growth potential,” says Normand Provost, the Caisse’s executive vice-president, private equity. “We really wanted to repeat the […]
American Airlines has made an additional US$100 million contribution to its employees’ defined benefit(DB)pension plans. It’s in addition to the $223 million that the airline has already contributed to satisfy minimum required pension funding obligations for 2006. American has contributed more than $1.5 billion to its DB plans since 2002. To comment on this story […]
More than half(56%)of global companies believe their pension plan represents at least a moderate financial risk to their organization, according to a new study. The Mercer Human Resource Consulting survey of more than 300 companies also found that 16% believe their plan poses a great risk. Concern is the greatest in the United Kingdom where […]
State Street Global Alliance has announced a commitment of US$100 million in acquisition capital and $1 billion in seed capital by its partners to find additional opportunities for investment. It seeks to invest in early stage asset management firms with cutting-edge investment strategies in an effort to generate private equity-like returns. Global Alliance is a […]
Two positive and painless adjustments to the federal government’s new policy on income trust taxation could remove the disadvantage currently faced by the country’s pension plans and put conventional firms and trusts on a level playing field, a paper from PricewaterhouseCoopers suggests. PwC proposes two adjustments to the October 31, 2006, federal Tax Fairness Plan: […]
A new survey suggests Canadian employers expect a moderate but steady hiring climate in the first quarter of 2007. The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey says 17% of employers expect to increase their payrolls, while 14% anticipate cutbacks, for a net employment outlook of +3%. Of those polled, 67% expect no changes and 2% are unsure […]
Power Financial is considering an offer to buy Putnam Investments for more than US$3.5 billion, according to a newspaper report. The company, which controls IGM Financial and Great-West Lifeco, is reportedly looking to expand outside of Canada. Putnam has $191 billion in assets under management, 204 institutional clients, and more than nine million shareholders and […]
Pension regulation is an important issue for the efficiency of Canada’s capital markets, said Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge. In a speech to the Economic Club of Toronto, he said there is a crucial need for a framework that provides the appropriate incentives for employers to establish and maintain pension plans, so that these […]
A U.S. federal judge has upheld an order approving Delta Air Lines to terminate its pilots’ pension plan. A group of 223 retired pilots had opposed the September ruling, which allowed the carrier to end the plan. They claimed Delta did not give them enough notice about its request to end the plan and did […]