Most Ontario residents have something to look forward to in February besides the usual cold snap this year. The third Monday of the month—February 18th—is the first official Family Day and the ninth provincial statutory holiday for Ontarians. According to a survey of Ontario employers by Watson Wyatt, employers are embracing the new holiday with […]
In a survey released Tuesday, 67% of investment management firms who participated said they have complete discretion over most of the proxy votes of their pension clients. This is slightly less than last year’s survey result of 73%. While this means that more pension plans are providing voting guidelines to their proxy voting agents, more […]
Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are not to be feared, but, as they increase in number and size, there is an urgent need for governance structures. This was the main message from a lecture at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management in Toronto on Thursday by Keith Ambachtsheer, an adjunct professor and director of […]
U.S. assets in 130/30 strategies could reach US$350 billion by 2011, according to a new Merrill Lynch report. The report, titled Institutional Demand for 130/30, surveyed 160 U.S. institutional investors about their expectations to increase or initiate 130/30 strategies. The firms questioned had a combined $1.5 trillion in assets with $10 billion in 130/30. With […]
As the industry digests the details of the recent potential solution to the third-party structured asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) crisis, insiders are expressing their relief that an end is in sight. However, many are concerned with the continued lack of information and transparency within the process. “It’s a positive development,” says Colin Kilgour, president, Connor, […]
Quebec is the latest province to be facing a looming labour shortage, according to a recent report from the Conference Board of Canada. The analysis, titled From Baby Boom to Labour Crunch: Quebec’s Impending Labour Shortage, said Quebec could be short 292,000 workers by 2025 and up to 363,000 by 2030. Overall labour force participation […]
Three industry players have answered the Toronto Stock Exchange’s (TSX) request for comments on Section 611(d) of its manual. The section relates to security holder approval requirements for acquisitions of public companies. The Pension Investment Association of Canada (PIAC), The Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and the Canada Coalition of Good Governance (CCGG) have […]
The Canadian Union of Public Employees(CUPE)is willing to take its two-year-old lawsuit against Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System(OMERS)out of the courts and into the hands of an arbitrator. “The ball is in the court of OMERS and respondents to provide facts to an arbitrator,” says the executive assistant of CUPE Ontario, Antoni Shelton. “The outside […]
With more and more Canadian employees relying on defined contribution pensions for their retirement income, it may be time for plan sponsors to step in and make some decisions for them. It’s been about 20 years since defined contribution(DC)plans began gaining popularity in Canada and the U.S. In the booming markets of the ’80s and […]
Armed with a list of the toughest human resources, pension and benefits challenges facing employers, we asked nine industry consultants to create solutions. For this year’s annual consultants roundtable, Benefits Canada surveyed a selection of plan sponsors across the country about their biggest human resources, pension and benefits issues. Then we rounded up some of […]