The skyrocketing cost of living has created increased need for employees to receive additional financial well-being information to meet their retirement savings goals. It’s increasingly difficult for most Canadians to put aside any savings above their monthly expenses, thanks in large part to the squeeze from high inflation and the effects of increased interest rates […]
Data management and transference is a key area of risk for pension plan sponsors as the vulnerability of engaging with third parties creates opportunities for cybercriminals, says Jillian Kennedy, a partner at Mercer. According to an online brief published last year by Ernst & Young, third-party service providers hired by public pension plan sponsors tend to […]
While pension plan sponsors are still in the early days of exploring how artificial intelligence solutions could help automate maintenance tasks, they’re exploring the various functionalities they can automate from a member service standpoint, says Akio Tagawa, president and chief executive officer at consultancy Linea Solutions. He’s seen increased interest from plan sponsors in evaluating how […]
The progression of bonds and frontier markets over the long term will be top of mind for institutional investors in the coming year, according to Andrew Forsyth, senior vice-president of institutional investment services at Franklin Templeton. Fixed income may be in the good graces of institutional investors again as higher bond yields lead the way […]
Before Janet Jule joined the Saskatchewan Healthcare Employees’ Pension Plan as its chief investment officer in 2015, the pension plan sponsor started adding a wider variety of assets to its portfolio, emphasizing diversification and lowering its dependence on equities. Indeed, like many other plan sponsors, the SHEPP’s investment strategy is increasingly incorporating more alternative asset […]
A resurgence of defined benefit pension plans in Canada could be on the horizon, according to a report from the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology pension plan. It found most Canadian workers are looking for retirement features that are most prominent in a DB plan, including monthly and predictable retirement income that’s guaranteed for […]
U.S.-based defined benefit pension plan sponsors are increasingly looking to assess their liability-driven investment strategies as they reach fully funded statuses, according to a new study by Coalition Greenwich and commissioned by Franklin Templeton. The study found nearly three-quarters (73 per cent) of pension plan sponsors reported funding ratios of 100 per cent or higher, […]
If the federal government scraps its rule restricting Canadian pension funds from holding more than 30 per cent of the voting shares of investee corporations, pension plan sponsors and other investment organizations could increase their holdings in high-performing assets, have greater oversight and accountability of their assets and see a decrease in fees for private equity, according […]
Former federal finance minister Bill Morneau is standing up for the Canadian Pension Plan, calling it a uniquely successful investment organization that won’t be easily recreated by the Alberta provincial government if it’s successful in its attempt to leave the federal plan. Speaking at the Portfolio Management Association of Canada’s national conference last week, he […]
In the institutional investment sector, risk management means thinking about a lot of doom and gloom, but for Danny Ip, the job is more about being prepared for what could happen tomorrow rather than forecasting what storms lie ahead. The TTC Pension Plan’s director of investment risk and analytics employs an analytical approach to measuring […]