An article on how plan sponsors can handle lost pension claims was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com this past week. Here are the top five human resources, benefits, pension and investment stories of the last week: 1. Expert panel: How plan sponsors can handle lost pension claims 2. Feds increasing pay, retention bonuses for CAF […]
Amid geopolitical conflict and market volatility, the volume of risk transfers among Canadian defined benefit pension plan sponsors is down roughly 60 per cent in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period last year, says Brent Simmons, senior vice-president and head of DB solutions at Sun Life Financial Inc. “The pullback that […]
Brookfield Wealth Solutions Ltd. is targeting the U.K. pension risk transfer industry with a planned US$3.17 billion acquisition of insurance firm Just Group, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The transaction would provide a 75 per cent premium based on the closing price for Just Group shares on July 30, 2025. Read: […]
The Canadian pension risk transfer market reached record-breaking demand in 2024 with $11 billion in deals at the end of the year, eclipsing the $7.8 billion combined total of annuities transactions in 2023 and 2022. Indeed, the fourth quarter of 2024 alone saw $5.2 billion of overall transactions, split between $1.5 billion in buy-ins and […]
An article on the Association of Canadian Pension Management’s call for modernized pension legislation in Alberta was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com this past week. Here are the top five human resources, benefits, pension and investment stories of the last week: 1. ACPM urging Alberta government to align pension funding, administration rules with other provinces […]
Yellow Pages Ltd. is transferring $210 million in defined benefit pension liabilities through a group annuity contract with BMO Insurance. According to a press release, BMO Insurance will issue annuities covering the responsibility for pension benefits of roughly 860 retired plan members at the company. The insurance firm will start administering all benefits to these […]
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 […]