Air Canada is seeking finance ministry approval to form its own life insurance company as a gateway to the annuities market and a hedge against looming pension payouts. A spokesperson says the airline aims to shore up pension risks by buying annuities from Canadian insurers and reinsuring the fixed payments through an insurance subsidiary. The Montreal-based carrier […]
Some 61 per cent of Ontarians said they have or anticipate having low liquid retirement assets, according to new research by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries. Its research, prepared by Saisai Zhang, Mary Hardy and David Saunders of the University of Waterloo’s department of statistics and actuarial science, looked at the anticipated concerns of those between the ages […]
Canadian group annuity sales reached an estimated $1 billion in the first quarter of 2018, according to Willis Towers Watson’s quarterly update. The significant volume of activity is largely due to a single large transaction. Recently, Alcoa Corp. completed an annuity buyout worth more than $700 million for about 2,100 pension plan members across Canada. […]
With annuities largely comprised of fixed-income investments, can the sponsors of pension plans gain an advantage by replicating such a portfolio on their own with a focus on private debt? During a presentation for plan sponsors in Toronto on Thursday, Michael Augustine, a managing director at TD Asset Management Inc., touted the option of reducing […]
As of July 1, 2018, new provisions under Ontario’s Pension Benefits Act will allow the sponsors of defined benefit pension plans to obtain a discharge from their obligations to former and retired plan members for whom they’ve purchased an annuity. Under the changes, plan sponsors will need to fulfil certain requirements before they can obtain a […]
While saving for retirement is an incredibly long journey, visualizing the entire process is a great way to get to better outcomes, according to Neil Walton, head of investment solutions at Schroder Investment Management Ltd. “Start with the end in mind,” Walton told participants at Benefits Canada’s Defined Contribution Plan Summit. “That means reviewing projected […]
The Co-operative Superannuation Society pension plan is one of Canada’s largest defined contribution plans, growing from its Saskatchewan roots in 1939 to include some 351 employers from across the country today. Martin McInnis, executive director of the plan, will speak about the benefits of a multi-employer defined contribution plan and whether they could be the way of the future during a session […]
The Pension Investment Association of Canada is calling out Ontario’s proposed defined benefit solvency funding framework for its lack of solvency reserve account structures, a model that exists in the regulatory landscapes in Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec. In a letter to Charles Sousa, the province’s minister of finance, the association’s chair Brenda King notes it has advocated in favour […]
When Loblaw Companies Ltd. purchased annuities to reduce the risk in its defined benefit pension plans in January 2017, the $350-million, inflation-linked buyout kicked off a year of significant activity in the Canadian annuity market. Group annuity purchases had reached nearly $2.5 billion by the end of the third quarter of 2017, according to Willis […]
Ahead of the next federal budget, the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association is recommending the government allow Canadians to hold annuities within tax-free savings accounts. The CLHIA noted in its submission to the Department of Finance that more Canadians are reaching retirement without the security provided by a defined benefit pension plan. As such, it […]