In the quest for yield, some pension funds are buying riskier insurance products
During a quarter that featured falling oil prices, a Bank of Canada rate cut and uneven global economic data, Canadian pension plans generated positive returns for the seventh consecutive quarter.
The Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAAT) Pension Plan reported a 11.5% rate of return in 2014.
The solvency position of Canadian pension plans dipped slightly in the first quarter of 2015.
The health of Canadian DB pension plans has continued to decline in 2015, according to Aon Hewitt.
The market value of Canadian employer-sponsored pension funds grew 1.7% in the third quarter, marking the fifth consecutive quarterly increase, says Statistics Canada.
Group pension buyout sales reached US$8.5 billion in the United States last year.
BCE has reached an agreement to transfer the longevity risk for $5 billion of pension plan liabilities to Sun Life Financial.
Kimberly-Clark Corp.’s recent announcement that it will purchase group annuity contracts for about 21,000 retirees representing US$2.5 billion in pension obligations is the latest indication that the trend to de-risk pension plans is continuing.
Kimberly-Clark has reached an agreement to transfer the pension obligations of about 21,000 American retirees to two insurers.