As funding liabilities continue to climb for many defined benefit (DB) plan sponsors, financial risk management is drawing increasing attention. Mercer has introduced a new strategy for pension plans that aims to increase expected returns while decreasing the funding volatility of a DB plan. According to Bill Ham, national partner with Mercer in Toronto, only […]
An increasing number of companies are saving millions of dollars by suspending their employer 401(k) match in response to cost pressures, according to Hewitt Associates. For obvious reasons, the move is not without controversy. Research suggests the effects of doing so can inflict lasting damage to the retirement savings of employees. According to Hewitt’s analysis, […]
Two camps have emerged among the four largest provincial securities regimes in Canada over the creation of a single securities regulator. At a panel discussion last week in Toronto, the heads of the British Columbia, Alberta, Quebec and Ontario securities commissions discussed the pros and cons of a national securities regulator as imagined by federal […]
After emerging from the horrors of 2008, the folks at the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec were no doubt looking to 2009 with sunny thoughts. The asset-backed commercial paper nightmare was over, Fernand Perreault replaced ailing Richard Guay as chief executive officer (CEO), and the hunt was on for a new president. Then […]
Reaction to the 2009 Ontario budget is in. And it’s not good. While there are no major surprises for pension funds or plan sponsors, it is becoming clear that employers with defined benefit (DB) plans have little to cheer about. The burning issue on the minds of many single-employer DB plan sponsors—solvency funding relief—received a […]
Temporary solvency funding relief constitutes the lion’s share of issues relevant to plan sponsors in Ontario’s new budget, and aside from a few minor surprises, the budget will deliver most of what was expected on pension matters, according to an analysis by Watson Wyatt Worldwide. Ontario’s government will amend the Pension Benefits Act (PBA) to […]
Federal Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty has published regulations meant to provide optional temporary solvency funding relief for federally regulated defined benefit (DB) pension plans. The plans affected represent 7% of all private pension plans in Canada and account for approximately 12% of pension assets. “The measures will offer temporary relief to sponsors while also […]
Thursday’s news that several Canadian pension funds are in the running to purchase up to three U.K. airports was a blip on an otherwise dark radar screen for the infrastructure asset class. Considering the staggering amounts being pledged around the world for infrastructure spending as a stimulus measure, does the proposed deal indicate a flight […]
A group of Canada’s largest pension funds is making a push to buy up to three U.K. airports after Britain’s Competition Commissioner ordered BAA PLC to sell three of its seven facilities, reports the Globe and Mail. BAA PLC—the world’s biggest airport operator—is partly owned by the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, and […]
Conservative MP Ted Menzies probably expected to get an earful when he kicked off a cross-country consultation tour last week to gather advice on Canada’s ailing pension system. If so, Friday’s session in Toronto did not disappoint. The panel heard testimony from unions, pension consultants, activists and more than a few impassioned pleas from seniors […]