The Ontario Expert Commission on Pensions (OECP) report contains more bad news than good for pension plans in the province and was released at the worst possible time, according to a panel of experts at a CPBI seminar at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel on Tuesday. “In evaluating the work of the expert commission, it’s […]
Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s recent proposal to offer funding relief to federally regulated pension plans is under fire for being unworkable in the current economic environment. Last week, he proposed doubling the time-frame for solvency payments to 10 years from five years. To qualify for the extension, organizations must obtain the agreement of pension […]
The long-awaited report from the Alberta/British Columbia Joint Expert Panel on Pension Standards was released Friday, calling for sweeping changes to pension standards legislation for the two provinces as well as the creation of a new pension plan for Canadians who currently have no pension coverage. Created in October 2007 by their respective provincial governments, […]
Canadian plan sponsors should be provided with temporary relief from 2009 solvency funding requirements, as the combination of plunging asset values and mark-to-market accounting practices are threatening the financial health of many organizations, according to a study. Watson Wyatt’s Pension Barometer analysis suggests that without funding relief, plan sponsors are facing potentially huge increases in […]
Access to retirement saving room in Canada’s pension system is inequitably distributed between public and private sector workers, and reform is required to provide all Canadians the same opportunity for retirement, according to a C.D. Howe Institute report. In A Pension in Every Pot: Better Pensions for More Canadians, author James Pierlot says Canada’s retirement […]
Not only is British Columbia’s proposed new pension plan the latest in a string of privately-financed plans cropping up around the world, but it may represent a step towards a national supplementary pension plan. The first of its kind in Canada, B.C.’s plan is expected to provide pension coverage for the 75% of British Columbians […]
We brought together senior representatives from money management firms in a “virtual round table” to discuss the issues facing Canada’s largest pension asset managers. Participants: Roger Beauchemin, president and chief executive officer, McLean Budden Benoît Durocher, executive vice-president and chief economic strategist, Addenda Capital Peter Lindley, head of investments, State Street Global Advisors (Canada) Rajiv […]
Oct. 3, 2008 was an interesting day for the financial industry. The U.S. Congress, after much negotiation and arm-twisting, passed a version of the bailout package that was originally proposed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to provide liquidity to the markets. But what happened after the announced bailout was even more interesting. Markets continued […]
A generational perfect storm is approaching as boomers begin to lose their grip on power and the workplace becomes increasingly age-diverse, according to an expert. “For the first time, there are two very large, very powerful groups occupying the same workplace at the same time,” said Nora Spinks, president of Work-Life Harmony Enterprises at an […]
As reports surface of a behind-the-scenes push for temporary pension funding relief by several plan sponsors, observers say it may be time to overhaul the rules on solvency funding. Some companies have admitted that their required pension plan contributions may push them into bankruptcy amid the economic crisis. They are looking for a similar relief […]