Multiple stakeholder groups are praising the 2019 federal budget’s proposal to amend tax rules to allow for late-life and variable annuity structures. The proposed advanced life deferred annuity would be a qualifying annuity purchase under registered retirement savings plans, registered retirement income funds, including trusts run by these accounts, as well as defined contribution pension […]
Employees at Glencore Canada’s Brunswick Smelter operation are considering striking over what their union is calling “never-ending” concession demands from the company on pensions and benefits packages. While members of the United Steelworkers Local 7085 are expected to vote on a strike on March 28 and 29, negotiations between the employer and the union, which represents […]
The U.S. customized target-date fund market grew to US$430 billion at the end of 2017, according to the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association. The DCIIA’s inaugural survey on the market, which included data from 65 plans with a total of 673 different funds, found the majority of these funds are allocated to a mix of equities and fixed income. […]
Artificial intelligence and blockchain are buzzwords in virtually every industry, but there are specific ways these technologies can make improvements in the pension world, according to Serge Boccassini, manager for defined contribution product solutions at Northern Trust. “How can it be used to help people save more for retirement [and] save better for retirement? And […]
In its 2019 budget on Tuesday, the federal government announced a number of proposals regarding pension protections, off the back of recent high-profile corporate bankruptcies that have thrown the sustainability of some Canadians’ defined benefit plans into doubt during the past few years. Indeed, the federal government received 4,400 submissions in response to its request for comment on the […]
While the pension industry is interested in environmental, social and governance factors, that isn’t translating into action when it comes to incorporating ESG funds into defined contribution plans’ investment options, according to a new report by Cerulli Associates. The report found, ESG-oriented investment options aren’t becoming too popular in the U.S. for three key reasons: fee […]
Since just about half of private sector workplaces in the U.S. offer some type of retirement plan, many employees in dual income houses could be failing to account for enough savings for both themselves and their spouses, according to new research by Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research. As a result, the employee with a workplace retirement […]
If there’s one thing Canada’s pension industry can agree on, it’s the work that needs to be done around defined contribution pension plans. In February, on the second morning of Benefits Canada’s DC Plan Summit in Banff, Alta., a roomful of plan sponsors, record-keepers, investment managers and consultants compiled a wish list for DC plans. […]
On Jan. 1, 2018, Germany introduced pension legislation aimed at strengthening workplace pensions by creating a system of collective defined contribution plans. And yet, a year later, not a single plan has been introduced based on the reforms. Speaking at an event in Frankfurt in November 2018, a board member from IG Metall, Germany’s largest […]
The Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities has published an updated version of its guideline No. 8 for defined contribution plans, focusing on three main areas: the payout phase, plan sponsor/administrator responsibilities and advice. Introduced in March 2014, Guideline No. 8 aims to spell out the rights and responsibilities of DC plan administrators, providers and members. It […]