Caroline Cakebread
Are Canadian pension plans innovative? That was one questions posed to the expert panel I interviewed at the 2011 Investment Innovation Conference in Bermuda. Drawing on their own experience with Canadian pension plans, all three agreed that, while the biggest public pension plans in Canada have been able to embrace innovation, many plans are still concerned about the higher costs and potential for added risks that come along with many alternatives. According to Josephine Marks, Managing director, Pension Assets, Scotiabank, plan sponsors (rightly) believe that making the wrong decision could lead to poor performance and higher fees — these factors could see the plan becoming worse off in the future. Click on the image to watch the video.