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 […]
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. is being targeted in a lawsuit over a US$2 billion pension risk transfer deal completed in 2019 with Athene Annuity and Life Co. The class action lawsuit, filed by former employee Charles Doherty and which names independent consultant State Street Global Advisors Trust Co. as a defendant, argues the pharmaceutical company is […]
During a panel discussion at the Canadian Investment Review’s 2024 Global Investment Conference in April, three pension plan sponsors shared their perspective on plan design and the changing patterns for employees close to retirement. Nearly a decade ago, Via Rail Canada Inc. began allowing payments of lump sums to individuals up to age 65 to […]
The estimated cost to transfer retiree pension risk to an insurer in a competitive bidding process increased from 100.3 per cent of a plan’s accounting liabilities in March to 100.9 per cent in April, according to Milliman Inc.’s latest pension buyout index. The index uses the FTSE above median AA curve and annuity purchase composite […]
Capital accumulation plan members saw a slight uptick in their plan outcome in the first quarter of 2024, as annuity rates rebounded to levels comparable to those from the third quarter of 2023 and gross income replacement ratios remained at multi-year highs, according to a new report by Eckler Ltd. The consultancy’s latest CAP income […]
From its roots as a retirement plan for Saskatchewan farmers, the Saskatchewan Pension Plan has grown over the past four decades to accommodate Canadians from all provinces and walks of life. “It’s really meant to be a social policy need to fill in gaps,” said Shannan Corey, the plan’s executive director, during a session at Benefits […]
Employer-sponsored retirement plans that offer matching contributions can help younger workers retire earlier and with more money, according to a new report by Mercer Canada. The report based its findings on a sample worker aged 30 earning $70,000 and with $30,000 of personal debt, using five per cent of their income to either pay down […]
Retiring baby boomers are in an era of decumulation anxiety, as they convert their pension assets into income that they fear won’t hold up over the entirety of their retirement. The decumulation problem is complex for defined contribution pension plan sponsors because it involves transferring lump sum pension assets to retirees who may lack investment […]
Fewer than four in 10 Black Americans say they’ve saved or are saving enough for retirement according to a new survey by LIMRA. The survey, which polled 3,000 employees, also found Black Americans were less likely than the general population to have invested in a workplace retirement account (37 per cent compared to 46 per […]