A recent Quebec Superior Court decision has unleashed uncertainty over the liabilities of companies and their directors when a pension deficit appears in the context of a reorganization. The court authorized a group of defined benefit pension plan members to proceed with a $65 million class action against companies involved in a 2011 reorganization. The […]
The International Centre for Pension Management is celebrating 20 years of promoting strong pension governance practices by regularly engaging plan sponsor members, says Sebastien Betermier, the organization’s executive director. “It’s a milestone and it speaks to the value of having candid and quality exchanges among the pension funds . . . it’s a safe space for them […]
The total portfolio approach is gaining interest as a new investing strategy for pension funds and other asset owners, but its novel status may be deceiving. Indeed, the concept behind this approach has been at the core foundation of modern portfolio theory since the days when Nobel Prize winner Harry Markowitz showed that maximizing the […]
An article on International Business Machines Corp.’s latest pension risk transfer 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. IBM transferring US$6 billion in pension liabilities via group annuity buyout 2. How employers can encourage employees to take guilt-free sick days […]
An increase in the frequency of digital breaches among financial organizations is pushing institutional investors to take the necessary steps to prevent cyberattacks, says Sebastien Betermier, executive director at the International Centre for Pension Management. The complexity of the industry as well as the investment patterns of Canadian pension funds can create increased risk in […]
Roughly 200 employees of the Ontario Native Women’s Association are joining the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology’s DBplus pension plan. The ONWA is a not-for-profit organization that works to empower and support Indigenous women and their families across Ontario, according to a press release. Previously, the employees were enrolled in a group registered retirement […]
The median projected solvency ratio for Ontario defined benefit pension plans was 123 per cent as at June 30, 2024, up slightly from 122 per cent as at March 31, according to a new report by the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario. It found this increase was attributable to a rise in solvency discount […]
International Business Machines Corp. is transferring roughly US$6 billion in defined benefit pension obligations through a group annuity buyout. Prudential Financial Inc. will assume responsibility for making retirement benefit payments to roughly 32,000 retirees and their beneficiaries beginning Jan. 1, 2025. Read: IBM entering US$16BN pension risk transfer The transaction marks the second pension risk […]
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 […]
The funded position of a typical Canadian defined benefit pension plan rose on both a solvency and accounting basis in July, according to Telus Health’s latest pension index. It found the solvency of the average DB plan rose to 107.8 per cent, up from 107.6 per cent in June, while the accounting index increased from […]