The Canadian annuity purchase market recorded $700 million in transactions during the first quarter of 2025, according to a new report by Telus Health. It noted a “notable deceleration” in the volume of transactions after what a record-breaking year, which isn’t uncommon for the first quarter of a new year. The last quarter of 2024 […]
As defined contribution plans mature, Canada is seeing the first wave of retirees that only have DC plans and plan sponsors are facing the challenges of this decumulation phase. Speaking during a session at Benefits Canada’s 2025 DC Plan Summit, Yashar Zarrabian, regional vice-president for Quebec at Sun Life Financial Inc., outlined three pillars to […]
Rather than a single defined contribution plan sponsor tackling the decumulation dilemma alone, decisions need to be reframed as a decumulation ecosystem, said Nicole Lomax, vice-president and portfolio manager in institutional asset allocation at TD Asset Management Inc. During a session at Benefits Canada’s 2025 DC Plan Summit, she outlined the five decumulation priorities based […]
The pension risk transfer market achieved a record-breaking demand with $11 billion in deals at the end of 2024, according to a new report from Telus Health. The year-end total from 2024 eclipsed the $7.8 billion total worth of annuities transaction volume seen in 2023 and 2022. The fourth quarter saw $5.2 billion worth of […]
Capital accumulation plan members who retired in 2024 saw the highest CAP outcomes since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report by Eckler Ltd. The consultancy’s latest CAP income tracker found a typical male member retiring at the end of December 2024 achieved a gross income replacement ratio of 66.5 per […]
With the start of a new year, there are several developments and trends that will likely impact Canadian pension plan sponsors in 2025. Implementation of regulatory guidelines In September 2024, the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities published a new guideline for risk management for plan administrators and an update to their guideline for capital […]
Increased deal-making in the Canadian annuities market is adding pressure to defined benefit plan sponsors seeking to de-risk their plans, says Jason Vary, president of Actuarial Solutions Inc. “[The market is] getting worse,” he says. “This year, I’ve had some experiences where we’re placing some small annuities, under $5 million, and we really struggled to […]
Pension plan members’ primary concerns about their golden years are whether they’ve saved enough money to live their dream retirement, whether those funds will last and whether they’ll be able to leave a legacy for their family. But numerous surveys of Canadians indicate many don’t feel financially literate enough to address those concerns, according to […]
Canada’s life and health insurers paid out a record $128 billion in health and retirement benefits last year, up from $114 billion in 2022, according to the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association’s annual fact book. “The benefits that life and health insurers provide through workplace plans and individual policies contributed significantly to Canadians’ health […]
With many Canadian defined benefit pension plans in a strong funded position, plan sponsors, particularly those with unionized workforces, are increasingly discussing the use of surplus funds, says Gavin Benjamin, a partner in the retirement and benefits solutions practice at Telus Health. The funded position of a typical Canadian defined benefit pension plan rose on […]