Among those with the most to worry about when a company as big as Sears Canada Inc. enters restructuring proceedings are the members of the pension plan. In the case of Sears employees, the company has a significant shortfall in its defined benefit pension plan despite closing it to new entrants in 2008. According to […]
It seems the current pension crisis — whether it be over reform of the Canada Pension Plan or high levels of underfunding among private plans — is always the most significant one yet. But as past issues of Benefits Canada going all the way back to the first one in 1977 show, alarm about the […]
Alongside the Ontario government’s announcement earlier this month regarding a new funding framework for defined benefit pension plans in the province, it also said it would require plan administrators to establish written governance and funding policies. This move is one of a number of proposed measures designed to protect benefit security for members of defined […]
By 2050, the six countries with the world’s largest pension systems will have a combined funding gap of $224 trillion largely due to demographic trends, according to a new study by the World Economic Forum. The report found Australia, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, Britain and the United States will face significant challenges in providing for their […]
While Ontario’s proposed solvency changes for defined benefit pension plans may help plan sponsors with funding obligations, they may put plan members in a more precarious position, says Michael Mazzuca, a partner in the pension and employee benefits group at Koskie Minsky LLP in Toronto. “There’s obviously a suggestion that, in addition to the emphasis on going […]
While the going-concern funding levels of Ontario’s defined benefit pension plans have improved slightly, the solvency picture remains stagnant, according to the Financial Services Commission of Ontario. In its 2016 report on the funding of 1,333 defined benefit pension plans, the regulator found the median funded ratio on a going-concern basis had climbed slightly to […]
The majority of salaried retirees and employees, along with unsecured creditors, voted in favour of Stelco Inc.’s restructuring plan in meetings on Thursday afternoon. Under the plan, Stelco will no longer be responsible for administering the salaried group’s pension plans and other post-employment benefits. The company taking over Stelco, Bedrock Industries Group LLC., will contribute […]
The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System improved its net investment return to 10.3 per cent at the end of 2016 compared to 6.7 per cent at the end of 2015, citing a strong performance from its public investments. The pension fund increased its net assets to $85.2 billion in 2016 from $77.1 billion in 2015, […]
As it continues to build an ‘all-terrain’ portfolio, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec posted a return of 7.6 per cent in 2016. This is down from 9.1 per cent in 2015 and 12 per cent in 2014. “The world right now has a lot of risk, geopolitically, in particular, and so we will […]
Manitoba should initiate an overall pension funding reform review similar to other provinces rather than continuing to rely on temporary solvency relief measures, according to Kevin Fahey, chair of the Pension Investment Association of Canada. In a letter to Linda Buchanan, acting superintendent of pensions at the province’s pension commission, Fahey’s comments and recommendations stem […]