The Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAAT) Pension Plan earned a net-of-fee annual return of 8.1% in 2015, outperforming its policy benchmark by 3.1%, but down from its 2014 return of 11.5%.
Its annual report, released today, also shows that the plan is 110.4% funded on a going-concern basis with a funding reserve of $1.2 billion, as of Jan. 1, 2016.
Plan assets reached $8.6 billion at December 31, 2015, compared with $8.0 billion the previous year.
“The plan is strong,” said Derek Dobson (pictured), chief executive officer of the CAAT Pension Plan, in a statement. “We are focused on managing risks by being realistic about challenges and opportunities. Our dual focus on pensions and investments has contributed to improvements in the plan’s funding health.”
Read: Sounding Board: ROM, CAAT pension merger lowers costs and risks
The Royal Ontario Museum was the most recent employer to join the plan, merging its pension plan into the CAAT Pension Plan effective Jan. 1, 2016. The decision followed an information and voting process that saw 97% of active ROM pension plan members vote to join the CAAT Plan and no retirees or deferred members voting against the merger.
The merger is the first of its kind to use Ontario’s regulations permitting the conversion and transfer of assets from a single-employer pension plan in the broader public sector to a jointly governed, multi-employer pension plan. Regulatory approval of the merger by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario is expected in the coming months.
Read: ROM pension members join CAAT Pension Plan
The CAAT Pension Plan paid out $406 million in pension benefits for the year, according to the report. Contributions, shared equally between employees and employers, totalled $432 million in 2015.
The plan has 42,000 members – 24,700 are employed by 24 colleges and 13 associated employers, and 15,300 are retired or have a deferred pension.