Pensions at the dinner table, recalls Jane Ambachtsheer of her early years spent with her father, Keith Ambachtsheer, president and founder of KPA Advisory Services…
With all the macro issues that hang over the markets—the European Union’s sovereign debt crisis, China’s industrial slowdown and the limping U.S. economy—it’s easy to…
A whole new regulatory environment is taking shape for banks and near-bank financial institutions. The new liquidity and risk management rules, which came into force…
Historically, Canadian pension accounting standards were viewed as one of the barriers encountered by employers wishing to reduce pension risk. These barriers included the ability…
The target benefit plan (TBP) is a new pension model gaining both attention and momentum in Canada for its potential to provide plan members with…
The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) is like the ant in Aesop’s fable “The Ant and the Grasshopper.” While others were enjoying market returns,…
Disclosure—it’s a word that’s popping up with increasing frequency in the pension world. In fact, it’s hard to turn around these days without tripping over…
The ancient Romans are widely considered to have been master engineers and builders. One of their many innovations was the design and construction of a…
Every day, almost 1,200 people turn 65 in Canada. That means that more than 400,000 Canadians, on average, will reach retirement age every year between…
Most Canadian DB pension plans have significant solvency deficits. Unless we experience a turnaround in financial market conditions over the next few years (i.e., equities…
With pension liabilities rising to record levels, many individuals are facing hard choices as a result. Should they delay retirement or lower their retirement standard…
The CBC/Radio-Canada Pension plan has led the way with its LDI strategy, but public sector plans have also faced some tough critics and even tougher…
Likewise, the CBC/Radio-Canada Pension Plan, launched a half-century ago, became something of a pioneer when it adopted a liability driven investing (LDI) approach in 2005.
In a world where markets turn on a dime, the underlying economic fundamentals are often shoved to the side. “Diamonds are forever,” noted Avery Shenfeld,…
Since its creation by the provincial government in 2006, the Nova Scotia Pension Agency (NSPA) (No. 21 in the 2012 Top 100 Pension Funds Report)…
At the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAAT) Pension Plan (No. 29), those charged with overseeing the retirement savings of nearly 34,000 plan members…
After stronger market performances in 2009 and 2010, returns took a turn for the worse in 2011. The TSX declined by 11%, and lower interest…
In 2011, the Ontario government announced measures offering temporary solvency relief for eligible public sector pension plans that are less than 90% funded. A number…
Many DB pension plan sponsors in Canada are revising their investment strategies to focus more on risk management in order to better manage funded status,…
A passion for using Excel files to model financial trends led Toronto-based Malcolm Hamilton to the uncomfortable realization, in the mid-1990s, that DB plans were…
Within Canada and around the world, the conversion of DB plans to DC plans has been accelerating as plan sponsors look to reduce their pension…
Until 2007, the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) was a conventional 60/40 equities/bonds DB plan, says John Crocker, president and CEO, and winner of…
Increased longevity poses a real risk to DB plans. Mortality improvement continues to trend upward, and this is particularly pronounced at older retirement ages.
For years, investors and other stakeholders have called for greater transparency in the accounting standards for employee benefits, since current standards obscure the true cost…
Currently, only four out of every 10 Canadians are covered by a pension plan other than CPP or QPP. Employers often don’t like DB plans…