The Canadian Institute of Actuaries is supporting several of the Alberta government’s proposed legislative and policy updates for private sector pension laws, including the move towards a going-concern plus regime for defined benefit plans and the introduction of automatic features in defined contribution plans. In its response to the consultation draft, the CIA cited the benefits […]
Alongside the steady decline of defined benefit pension coverage in Canada, defined contribution plans have seen a massive growth — “a secular shift of responsibility onto the individual when it comes to retirement security in Canada,” according to Preet Banerjee, a personal finance expert, during Benefits Canada’s 2022 DC Investment Forum in late September. He called […]
While defined contribution pension plans currently outnumber defined benefit pension plans, this wasn’t always the case, recalls Bita Jenab, a principal at RetirementWorks Services Inc. DC plans began to gain popularity in the mid-1980s, due to a combination of legislative and economic changes, she adds. “This period marks the introduction of pension accounting rules under […]
The Pension Investment Association of Canada is providing feedback on the Alberta government’s consultation draft of potential legislative and policy updates for private sector pension laws. While the PIAC doesn’t have specific views on how to calculate the provision for adverse deviation, it’s encouraged Alberta is considering a harmonized approach, wrote Sean Hewitt, chair of […]
After a tough couple of years, Canadians continue to face several challenges against an increasingly turbulent economic landscape. While most coronavirus restrictions were lifted in late spring 2022, the seventh wave of the pandemic arrived in July alongside rising inflation, which is compounding prices from the gas pump to the grocery store. Though the 2022 […]
Canada’s pension plans are weathering the coronavirus pandemic, with many plans currently in their best financial shape in several years. The early days of the pandemic painted a bleak picture for institutional investors. Between Feb. 19 and March 23, 2020, the S&P/TSX composite index dropped by 37 per cent — the latter date marking the index’s lowest point […]
More than a third (38 per cent) of U.S. employees increased their 401(k) contributions by an average of three per cent in 2021, according to a new survey by Fidelity Investments Inc. By the end of 2021, 83 per cent of workers with a 401(k) received a contribution from their employer, with the average employer […]
The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario is encouraging defined contribution pension plan sponsors and administrators to evaluate the use of automatic features within the context of their plans. New guidance posted to the FSRA’s website affirms that the Pension Benefits Act and its regulations don’t prohibit the use of automatic features in defined contribution pension […]
Despite the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the U.S. not-for-profit sector in 2020, employees participated in 403(b) retirement plans at the highest level since tracking began in 2008, according to a new survey by the Plan Sponsor Council of America. The survey, which polled roughly 400 not-for-profit retirement plan sponsors, found overall retirement plan participation rose to […]
Will a company’s expansion of its pension plan increase the likelihood of pension service providers buying up its shares? A new paper, which is set to be published in the Contemporary Accounting Research journal, digs into how a company’s pension fund growth may affect the types of investors it attracts. The paper specifically looks at […]