Investment fees led the agenda at the Joint Forum of Financial Market Regulators’ annual meeting last week. This year, the forum engaged externally on investment fees, a topic of high importance to both defined contribution pension plan members — particularly those invested in mutual funds — and policy holders of segregated funds. It sought the views […]
Canada’s pension plan sponsors have a fiduciary responsibility to consider climate change in their financial decisions, according to Randy Bauslaugh, counsel for pensions and benefits and executive compensation at McCarthy Tétrault LLP, during a webinar hosted by the Canada Climate Law Initiative and the Canadian Pension & Benefits Institute. “The failure of plan administrators and […]
The New Democratic Party tabled a motion on March 22 that would immediately turn Revera Inc. — a company that runs more than 500 seniors’ homes in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. — from a for-profit chain wholly owned by the Public Sector Pension Investment Board into a publicly managed entity. The motion calls on the […]
Pension governance policies have been common for many years, at least since the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities published its initial guidelines on pension plan governance in 2004. There are compelling reasons for plan administrators to have in place a formal pension governance structure and written governance policy. A governance policy, which sets out […]
Pension plans in Canada now factor environmental, social and governance monitoring in their investment process, and in the absence of national guidance, plan managers are using various tools and methods to analyze ESG risk, noted panelists of a roundtable recently hosted by The Association of Canadian Pension Management. “Considering ESG requires a balance of the investment […]
Defined benefit plan sponsors are undoubtedly familiar with scenario risk analysis, but applying that concept to their portfolio’s climate risk is a whole new ballgame. Plan sponsors will need to use these risk analyses to get a handle on how exposed they are to climate change risks and opportunities decades into the future, said Alyson […]
The Public Service Alliance of Canada is reiterating a call for its pension investment manager to divest its ownership in Revera Inc. over the company’s safety record during the coronavirus pandemic, saying the fund should “pull out of the business of long-term care” altogether. The public sector union, which represents 140,000 public sector pension plan members, first said […]
During the virtual 2020 Defined Benefit Investment Forum on Thursday, the Canadian Investment Review announced the winners of its inaugural Pension Leadership Awards. The winners are: Investment governance award — Concordia University pension plan Sustainable investing award — Bâtirente Chief investment officer of the year — Julie Cays, the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology pension plan DC investment […]
The Pension Investment Association of Canada is commenting on a consultation from the Canadian Institute of Actuaries’ actuarial standards board, providing feedback on benefit security, stress testing and windup valuations. In a letter, the PIAC said the meaning and mandated disclosures of benefit security are public policy issues for lawmakers and regulators. “While the views of the [actuarial standards […]
A lawsuit settlement on the other side of the world is reverberating around the globe as it increases the environmental, social and governance standards for a US$41 billion pension fund and potentially encourages similar legal action elsewhere. The lawsuit, filed against the Australian Retail Employees Superannuation Trust, known as REST, by one of its members, […]