The largest corporate DB plans in the United States had a strong 2013, and it's possible that they could reach fully funded status by the end of this year.
Canadian DB pension plans' solvency continued to improve significantly in the fourth quarter of 2013 and ended the year in a much stronger position than at the same point in 2012.
The pension funded status of the largest corporate sponsors in the United States increased sharply in 2013 due primarily to rising interest rates (which lowered liabilities) and a strong stock market.
The solvency health of Canadian pension plans continued to improve sharply in the fourth quarter of 2013 due to strong equity returns and rising long-term interest rates.
Air Canada says the Government of Canada has advised the airline that, further to the agreement announced in March, new regulations applicable to Air Canada's pension funding obligations have been formally approved.
Statistics Canada says the market value of Canadian employer-sponsored pension funds totalled $1.2 trillion at the end of the second quarter, virtually unchanged from the previous quarter.
Low investment returns loom in the decades ahead. That means bad news for pension plan managers and those saving for retirement, according to a C.D. Howe Institute report.
The federal government intends to introduce regulations providing Canada Post with four-year relief from the requirement to make special payments to the pension plan, as ordinarily required under the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985.
Statistics Canada reports that pension wealth advanced to nearly $2.6 trillion by the end of last year, an increase of 9.1% from 2011.
The funded status of the typical U.S. corporate pension plan in November improved 2.1 percentage points to 93.9%, which was the highest level since September 2008.