In December, a Mercer report found the median solvency ratio for Canadian pension plans increased from 85 per cent at the end of the third quarter of 2016 to 93 per cent at the end of the fourth quarter. Have your say: Do you believe pension solvency rates will continue to improve this year? Similarly, in […]
The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has re-appointed Bill Chinery and John Murray to its board for two-year terms commencing Jan. 1, 2017, as well as re-appointing Jean Turmel to another two-year term as the board’s chair. Murray has 35 years of experience as a global macro-economist and was the deputy governor of the Bank of […]
While Canada’s retirement industry is in a state of flux as the country prepares for an enhanced Canada Pension Plan, the market for capital accumulation plans remains a relatively unshakeable and consistent piece of the country’s retirement savings puzzle. In fact, throughout — and despite — the debates over issues such as the CPP and […]
One-quarter (25 per cent) of employers feel their employees have a poor overall understanding of their defined contribution pension or group registered retirement savings plan, according to Benefits Canada’s 2016 CAP Member Survey. The finding is a very slight improvement on the 2014 survey, when 27 per cent of respondents felt the same way. However, […]
Employers and employees have very different views on who bears the responsibility for ensuring employees retire successfully, according to Benefits Canada’s 2016 CAP Member Survey. The survey found a vast majority (96 per cent) of employer respondents believe it’s their employees’ responsibility to take an active role in their capital accumulation plans to ensure they […]
Accompass Inc. has appointed Anne Peiris as a vice-president in its compensation practice. With more than 15 years of experience in the industry, Peiris has held senior leadership roles at banks, insurance companies and human resources consulting firms, most recently with Mercer. “We really value Anne’s pragmatic approach to building compensation solutions,” said Sarah Beech, president of […]
As concerns over retirement income adequacy mount, the role of plan members in making decisions about their pension investments is a growing concern. Some plan members want some level of control over their pension investments, while others would like to hand decision-making to someone else. But what do they mean and why do they feel […]
Canada’s retirement system maintained its score of a B on the 2016 Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index, indicating a sound structure, many good features and some areas of improvement. To improve, Canada could develop a product for employees without a workplace pension plan, increase savings levels for middle-income earners and increase the retirement age, according to […]
Canadian insurers anticipate a six per cent increase in medical spending before the end of 2016 after experiencing a 6.3 per cent increase last year, according to a new study by Mercer. The figures account for changes in utilization patterns, government regulation and medical inflation, though the insurers estimated general inflation was 1.1 per cent […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec has appointed Patrick De Roy senior vice-president, research, depositors and global portfolio. Read: Mercer appoints health and benefits consultant De Roy comes most recently worked as partner and risk and investment practice leader at Eckler. He has also worked as an institutional portfolio manager of fixed income at Fidelity […]