Gavin Benjamin is senior director of retirement at Willis Towers Watson. He has worked in the industry for more than 20 years.
These are the views of the author and not necessarily those of Benefits Canada or the author’s employer.
Gavin Benjamin is senior director of retirement at Willis Towers Watson. He has worked in the industry for more than 20 years.
These are the views of the author and not necessarily those of Benefits Canada or the author’s employer.
In January 2020, the Canadian Institute of Actuaries released final changes to the actuarial standards of practice for calculating commuted values, with the changes scheduled to come into effect on Dec. 1, 2020. The changes will affect the lump-sum amounts paid from many Canadian defined benefit pension plans in situations such as: the termination of employment of […]
A retiree whose retirement savings are primarily in a registered savings plan, such as a life income fund or registered retirement income fund, already faces a number of risks and challenges during their retirement years. But a significant financial market correction highlights one of these challenges — how much income should be withdrawn from the […]
The holiday season is a time to reflect on the events of 2019 and how they may affect trends in the year to come. I predict a couple of trends on the pension landscape in 2020: much needed progress on the expansion of decumulation options and the outsourcing of the chief investment officer function. Expansion of […]
With the private sector’s move from defined benefit to defined contribution pension plans and rising life expectancies, the issue of retirement decumulation is increasing in importance. Decumulation deals with converting retirement savings into income that must be managed over the rest of the retiree’s lifetime. It can be a challenge for Canadians who don’t have a significant […]
Alongside recent reforms to funding rules for Ontario-registered defined benefit pension plans, the Ontario government also made changes to the pension benefits guarantee fund, including improvements to benefits payable by the PBGF and changes to its annual assessment paid by employers. Employers should budget for the change in their assessments, effectively beginning with assessments due in 2019. […]
In 2016, the Government of Canada reached an agreement with the provinces that provides for significant enhancements to the Canada Pension Plan, with an announcement of similar changes to the Quebec Pension Plan following in 2017. When the changes were announced, employers took note of the pending increases in the target benefit and contribution rates under the […]
With the aging of Canada’s population, the move to defined contribution pension plans in the private sector and increases in life expectancy, the issue of decumulation is growing in importance. Decumulation deals with converting retirees’ savings into periodic income that must last for the rest of their lifetime. That can be a challenge for Canadians who […]
As 2017 draws to a close, we turn our attention to the new year. As usual, there’s a lot happening in the Canadian pension environment. Below are four pension trends to watch for in 2018. 1. Canada Pension Plan/Quebec Pension Plan reform The Canada Pension Plan enhancements will be phased in from Jan. 1, 2019, and the Quebec […]
Legislation requires a defined benefit pension plan to provide members leaving active service with the option of transferring out the lump-sum commuted value of their accrued account, instead of receiving a monthly lifetime pension at retirement. However, this portability option isn’t a requirement if members are eligible for retirement at the time they leave employment. […]
The interest in pension funding rules is as great as ever, with changes taking effect in Quebec in 2016 and a review of funding rules in Ontario currently underway. For plan sponsors, members and other interested parties that would like to have a better understanding of how defined benefit pension funding rules work, it’s useful […]
Any do-it-yourself handyman’s toolbox isn’t complete without a roll a flexible multi-purpose cloth adhesive that has unlimited uses — a.k.a. duct tape. It’s been used…
In the midst of the most significant socio-economic and health crisis since WWII — and maybe even longer — virtually every aspect of modern society has been…
In employee benefits plans, maximums and caps on prescription drug dispensing fees are common cost management features. These features are designed to nudge plan members to…
Most people agree massage offers some therapeutic benefits, such as reduction of muscle tension and pain related to soft tissue strains and injuries. Studies have…
In a recent case, the Ontario Superior Court found an employee failed to mitigate damages when he refused a return-to-work offer from his employer, with whom he…
Many of the changes that were introduced to Ontario’s Employment Standards Act in January 2018 were short-lived, as the province’s new government elected in June…
With the legalization of recreational cannabis on Oct. 17, 2018, employers have been preparing to answer questions about whether their current benefits plans should provide…
In a recent decision, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice found an employer didn’t constructively dismiss a long-service employee when it provided her with 18 months…
On Oct. 17, 2018, it will be legal to purchase and consume recreational cannabis in Canada. In a recent survey of Mercer’s employer clients and Canadian employees, we found…
Some organizations are unique. Their employees are genuinely excited to be at work and an undercurrent of energy and vitality permeates the air. They’ve transformed the…
While many Canadian organizations continue to search for solutions to rising health-care costs, most are falling short. That’s why they must investigate any opportunity to find…
Macroeconomic trends such as longer lives, a lack of access to pensions and retirement supports, a low-growth environment, and persistent lack of financial literacy and…
We are now in Month 14 of the coronavirus pandemic. For institutional investors like pension plans, this pandemic and its consequences highlight the reality of…
Sir John Templeton once said, “Bull markets are born on pessimism, grow on skepticism, mature on optimism and die on euphoria.” He was describing the…
Investment management is an unusual business in that it doesn’t typically offer customers their money back if they’re unsatisfied with the product or service. This…
US equities have dominated their global peers over the past decade. As of 30 June, the S&P 500 had returned 14.5 per cent per annum…
The novel coronavirus pandemic has been an enormous human tragedy and its ultimate impact on the global economy remains impossible to predict. For many companies,…
While decumulation is a critical aspect of retirement, in my opinion, it doesn’t attract enough attention. Decumulation is the process of drawing down a capital…
Why fee reviews are an important step for plan sponsors
How the benefit shrinks with age and what that means for retirement security
Sponsors need to understand their responsibilities to minimize potential litigation.
Mike Tyson’s one liner “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth” comes to mind when I think of the predicament central…
Is Canada's underwhelming market performance Trudeau's fault?
Why value investing works for university foundations.
How a generation has shaped the new economy.
On the heels of the World Health Organization declaring the novel coronavirus a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, Canada’s federal government rolled out several…
In June, the Supreme Court of Canada released its decision in Uber Technologies Inc. v Heller, dismissing an appeal of a decision by the Ontario…
The COVID-19 pandemic has created many complicated issues for employers. Prudent employers should ensure they’re aware of the resources that may be available during this…
Pension governance policies have been common for many years, at least since the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities published its initial guidelines on pension…
Employers that act as pension plan administrators have statutory fiduciary duties that are defined by the plan documents and by governing pension legislation. While those duties…
An important case around an employer’s ability to change its practice in granting consent benefits under a pension plan is winding its way through the courts. The…
While 2018 ushered in a number of significant changes to Ontario’s pension legislation, including a major revamping of the funding rules for defined benefit plans,…
United States 10-year bond yields have risen substantially from their lows of 0.50 per cent last summer, hitting 1.6 per cent by late February. Canadian…
Canada’s green bond market has been growing, but investors would benefit from digging a little deeper to ensure what they’re buying is in fact green…
When the coronavirus prompted a collapse in both economic activity and equity markets in March, it put an end to the longest bull market in…
There has been a lot of buzz about negative interest rates lately, as the idea that you would have to pay governments to borrow your…
More Canadian employers should consider target-benefit pension plans for their employees these days. The model is gaining steam. In mid-December, 2020, the Quebec legislator signed into…
Much has been written about how 2020 was unprecedented, challenging and exhausting — take your pick of adjectives. It was also a white-knuckle ride for…
Defined benefit pension plan sponsors who are interested in better pension risk management for their retirees have two main strategies to consider: They can either…
At the time of my last column in May, many pension plan sponsors were catching their breath after watching funding levels take a roller coaster…
It’s hard to believe that just recently, people weren’t cutting their own hair or binge-watching Tiger King. At the beginning of the year, defined benefit…
It’s often said perception is reality and that’s definitely true when it comes to benefits plans. If employees can’t easily perceive the value in their…
How long is your attention span? Be honest and think back to the last time you received an email about your employee benefits and didn’t…
Last year offered up one of most tempestuous investment environments in recent memory, and this year looks to be equally dynamic. It will be increasingly…
We won’t soon forget 2020. This tumultuous year was characterized by a global pandemic, lockdowns around the world, spiking unemployment levels and business failures. Increasing…
\Over the course of the last 15 years we have seen an increase in the number of frozen corporate defined benefit plans in Canada. Frozen…
Over the last few years we have seen numerous First Nations’ settlements with the government. The amounts of these settlements are typically large and can,…
Putting U.S.–China relations back on a constructive path will be one of the top foreign policy challenges facing the Biden administration in 2021. I expect…
In China, keeping the novel coronavirus under control is key to maintaining the economic recovery, and there are reasons to be optimistic, despite a breakdown…
China’s V-shaped economic recovery continued for a fourth consecutive month in June, led by strong domestic demand. And if the novel coronavirus remains under control,…
China’s economy was the first to suffer the consequences of fighting the novel coronavirus and is the first on the road to recovery. If it…
The year 2020 tested the mettle of entrepreneurs and small business owners like none other in recent history. And private equity firms operating in the…
As the novel coronavirus pandemic upended the way businesses operate, investors around the world have been able follow daily market gyrations in real time to…
In many private equity asset classes, managers typically deploy most of their capital in a particular investment on day one. While they may increase or…
In the early days of litigation finance, most fund managers sold a concept and their own capabilities, but not much else. And risky strategies attracted…
In legal circles, it has always been thought that crises breed litigation. And while that appears to be the case in the current crisis, it…
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” The above quote from Charles Dickens aptly describes the current environment for the…
After years of relatively stable appreciation in global fixed-income and equity markets, investors were thrust into dramatic turbulence in the first quarter of 2020, as…
During and after the market crash of this year’s first quarter, retail traders flocked to the various commission-free online brokerages in droves. These traders began…
A value approach to investing has yielded great benefits in the past. Though there are often semantics around what constitutes value investing, it can be…
As alternative asset classes continue to be a major area of interest for institutional investors, considering the benefits and drawbacks of real estate as an…
Many defined contribution pension plans contain a built-in contradiction. During accumulation, they offer an array of investment choices — sometimes too many. In decumulation, by…
What a difference a year makes. At this time in 2019, initial reports of a novel virus to be called COVID-19 were just beginning to…