Changes are afoot in the DB world in Canada. Private sector pension liabilities are increasing relative to the size of corporations. As a result, large…
The 2008 financial crisis jeopardized the funding ratio (i.e., the ratio of assets to liabilities) of most DB pension plans, forcing plan sponsors to inject…
Target benefit pension plans and target date funds (TDFs) may be similar in name, but they are worlds apart when it comes to the benefits…
The level and direction of interest rates has become a frequent topic of conversation among investors of all types. While low interest rates are attractive…
After the economic turmoil that defined 2008 and decimated assets in many pension plans, few expected the turnaround in markets that occurred in 2009. In…
Large pension funds in Canada, in the U.S. and around the world have steadily increased their investment exposure to agriculture in recent years through farm…
In the pension fund world, accounting rules sometimes attract more attention than actuarial valuations. That’s because, at least among DB pension plans in the private…
Michael Sabia talks about responsible investing and the Caisse’s IT business and operational models. Q: A few years ago, the Caisse de dépôtet placement du…
Michael Sabia was appointed president and CEO of the Caisse de dépôtet placement du Québec in March 2009, at the peak of the financial crisis.…
Statistics Canada reported in its Pension Plans in Canada survey that, in 2006, just under 220,000 Canadians were members of small registered pension plans (plans…
Interview with Ian Markham, Canadian Retirement Innovation Leader at Towers Watson Q: Are DB plans threatened? A: Yes, they are under threat. If you were…
Despite efforts at reform, the number of DB plans in Canada is still falling in favour of DC plans. Are the investment risks just too…
Canadian plan sponsors, administrators and providers give clear communication and plain language around benefits, pensions and other HR programs lip service, but few make any…
The prevailing belief, based on market observation over several decades, is that currencies tend to revert to mean over time and deliver a zero expected…
Small and medium-size institutional investors are increasingly utilizing exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to efficiently implement investment strategies that used to be the exclusive domain of large…
Nearly two million Canadians will retire over the next five years, according to figures from Statistics Canada. Not only will this massive influx of retiring…
In the recent Burke v. Hudson’s Bay Co. decision, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) held that plan members who were transferred to a successor…
Towers Watson recently held its annual U.K. client conference, bringing together clients, consultants and money managers to discuss topical issues. Delivered through a case-study environment,…
After a few years of abysmal markets, the Top 40 money managers pulled off a solid return of 6.6% for 2010, following 2009’s terrific market…
-33%, +35%, -5%. These are the annualized returns of the S&P/TSX Composite Index in 2008, 2009 and (so far) 2010, respectively. With this degree of…
When funding is reduced and budgets need to be tightened, it doesn’t take a PhD graduate—although the University of Alberta (U of A) has plenty—to…
As the public debate about the future of pensions continues to unfold, policy-makers need to keep three factors in mind if the reforms are to…
It is the nature of optimists to look on the bright side—to search for the good amidst the bad. If there’s a silver lining in…
They aren’t sexy and you won’t find them on the program at the next big pension conference, but the option forms you provide plan members…
Pension plan sponsors and other investors with long time horizons often rely on high allocations to equities to help them achieve their long-term return objectives.…