The median solvency ratio of Canadian defined benefit pension plans reached 129 per cent at the end of the third quarter 2025, up from 126 per cent, according to a new report by Mercer. The increase was attributed to positive returns on equities and fixed income, despite increased liabilities. Read: FSRA finds Ontario DB plans’ […]
A desire to diversify a heavy public equities portfolio led Montreal’s municipal pension plan sponsor to look more closely at alternative assets. Before the global financial crisis, more than 60 per cent of the City of Montreal’s portfolio was in public equities, said Errico Cocchi, its head of pension investments, during a session at the […]
A representative defined benefit pension plan portfolio returned 0.8 per cent during the month of July due to a positive result from equities, according to a new report by Telus Health. It found the funded status of a typical DB pension plan increased both on a solvency basis to 104.3 per cent and on an […]
The market value of assets held by Canadian trusteed pension funds reached $2.5 trillion at the end of the first quarter 2025, representing an 8.7 per cent increase year over year, according to a new report from Statistics Canada. It analyzed the top 250 trusteed pension plans, which equates to roughly 90 per cent of […]
Pension managers’ pooled funds delivered a 3.4 per cent median return before management fees during the second quarter of 2025, according to a new report by Telus Health. Diversified pooled fund managers navigated a volatile economic context in the quarter to deliver the reported positive gains. Indeed, the median return was slightly higher than the […]
The Healthcare Employees’ Benefit Plan is reporting a 16.1 per cent investment return during 2024, an increase from a 10.8 per cent return in 2023 and the second highest return in the plan’s history. The investment organization beat its benchmark return of 14.5 per cent and achieved five- and 10-year returns of eight per cent […]
A new regime of higher bond yields is pushing defined benefit pension plan sponsors around the world to diversify asset holdings and increase liability-driven investment flows, according to a new report by FTSE Russell. Despite a nearly 10-year low for credit spreads, high absolute yields increased discount rates sharply for DB plans, particularly in the […]
The Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System is reporting a net investment return of 2.2 per cent as at June 30, 2025, representing a gain of $3.1 billion. Net assets under management at the OMERS have increased to $140.7 billion, compared to $138.2 billion at the end of 2024. Over a 10-year period, the investment organization […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is reporting a mid-year 4.6 per cent investment return, up $23 billion pushing its net assets to $496 billion as at June 30, 2025. “Against significant rate increases, stock market concentration and challenges in real estate over the past five years, our portfolio held strong and outperformed […]
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 […]