Any pooling of Ontario public sector pension assets must be carried out in a carefully planned manner if members are to realize benefits from such an arrangement, according to a statement from the College and University Retiree Associations of Canada/Associations de retraités des universités et collèges du Canada [CURAC/ARUCC].
The organization, which represents retirees from Canadian post-secondary institutions, released the statement in response to a report prepared by Bill Morneau in November 2012 for the Ontario government, which made recommendations for public sector pension asset pooling. In its critique, CURAC/ARUCC says any pooled asset manager appointed to oversee public pensions should be a “competent, lean organization controlled by those whose assets and future benefits are at risk,” rather than “a new bloated structure controlled in perpetuity by the financial industry.” The organization claims that setting up such an organization would cost Ontario taxpayers more than $50 million.
In its statement, CURAC/ARUCC says pooled pension assets could be jointly managed effectively by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, OMERS and Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan. It also recommends that participation of public pensions in the asset pooling structure should be voluntary, rather than made mandatory by legislation as the Morneau report suggests.