Effective competition in workplace pensions could be the result
In recent years, Canada’s largest companies have struggled with the inherent ups and downs of managing risk in their defined benefit pension plans. Two employer-sponsored pensions in particular — despite experiencing similar types of labour strife, government intervention and plan redesign — have so far embarked on very different investment strategies to suit their businesses […]
Could robo-advisors be the nudge plan sponsors need to offer members investment advice?
Discussions about pension plan de-risking tend to focus on minimizing—or at least managing—financial risk for DB pension plan sponsors. Across the spectrum of pension risk management strategies, plan sponsors often consider a DC plan to be a low-risk, or no-risk, solution, particularly if they previously provided a DB plan. In fact, when DB plan sponsors talk of de-risking, that is often “code” for converting their plan to a DC arrangement. DC plans certainly mitigate plan sponsor financial risk: there is little danger of having to make higher sponsor contributions to account for market volatility or increased longevity, as is possible in the case of a DB plan.
Major trends are reshaping Canada’s pension industry—from greater employer interest in sharing or off-loading pension risk to increased on de-risking.
Despite similar costs, the Dutch healthcare system features shorter wait times than the Canadian system with similar to superior outcomes, according to a study.
Offering coverage for paramedical services can make your benefits plan attractive to employees. But, at the same time, paramedicals can crush your plan’s experience, saddling you with runaway expenses. How can you manage the need for a quality health benefits plan while also keeping the plan sustainable?
Substance abuse can be a killer—literally—for employers in safety-critical industries. So what can they do about it?
There was a time when many workers didn’t have to worry about saving money for retirement. After all, that’s what their DB pension plan was for. Then the pendulum shifted and companies began switching to DC plans, putting more of the responsibility on employees to make investment decisions for their retirement savings.
Age to retirement isn't a good measure of risk tolerance.