The European Central Bank is expected to raise interest rates for the first time since 2011. In a statement, the bank said it plans to raise interest rates by 25 points on July 21, from negative 0.5 per cent to negative 0.25 per cent. The decision comes in response to inflationary pressures, which hit 8.1 […]
Contract food services and custodial workers at Canada’s colleges and universities have less access to pensions and paid leave than their in-house colleagues, according to a new report by the Canadian Union of Public Employees. The report, which analyzed employment data from publicly funded post-secondary institutions, found only 23 per cent of contract food services employers […]
Trent University is joining the University Pension Plan. The university, based in Peterborough, Ont., is the UPP’s fourth member institution. It follows Queen’s University, which joined in July 2021, and the University of Guelph and the University of Toronto, which both joined at the beginning of 2022. Read: University Pension Plan names Barbara Zvan inaugural president, […]
The viability of a public defined benefit pension plan is best judged by its fiscal sustainability rather than its overall liabilities, according to a new report by the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems. The report, written by Michael Kahn, director of research at the NCPERS (pictured right), found fiscally sustainable pension plans have […]
Asset managers that incorporate climate change into their investment processes are increasingly looking beyond commitments to net zero and exploring the impact on asset valuation, said Michelle Dunstan, chief responsibility officer at AllianceBernstein, during a session at the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2021 Investment Innovation Conference. “A changing climate can be described both in terms of […]
Diversity, equity and inclusion is top of mind for many plan sponsors these days. And, while issues around retirement and pensions likely aren’t the key focus for employers looking to tackle DEI issues, they should be. This March, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development released a study that found the pension gender gap, or the difference […]
Nova Scotia’s Public Service Superannuation Plan saw a 15.75 per cent return net of investment fees for the fiscal year 2020/21, generating $1 billion in total investment income. The plan’s funded status increased to 97.9 per cent at March 31, 2021, from 91.4 per cent the previous year. Its total net assets were about $7.2 […]
The Association for Canadian Pension Management is urging New Brunswick’s Financial and Consumer Services Commission to ensure unclaimed entitlements from ongoing pension plans are eligible for transfer to the province’s unclaimed property fund at the option of the plan administrator. Under a proposed revision to New Brunswick’s unclaimed property program, organizations and government entities holding […]
Canada’s bankruptcy laws should be changed to avoid future financial hardship for members of other underfunded pension plans, said a court-appointed representative for Sears Canada retirees. Kenneth Eady, a former Sears Canada management employee who now represents 17,000 other pensioners, told MPs on Tuesday that he doesn’t believe it’s fair that Canada’s two bankruptcy laws give banks more protection […]
The federal government is extending its relief to registered pension plans and deferred salary leave plans by one year to help employers manage and maintain benefits for their employees through the coronavirus pandemic. The draft regulations, initially released on July 2, 2020, are aimed at ensure pension plan sponsors and their beneficiaries have the flexibility they […]