Pension plan sponsors can save money by ensuring their plan texts and other communications materials are free of mistakes, says Mitch Frazer, a partner and the chair of the pensions and employment practice at Torys LLP. At a pension and benefits fundamentals program held by the Toronto chapter of the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists […]
Sears Canada Inc. pension plan members are facing bleak prospects for getting their full pension payouts, according to a Toronto bankruptcy lawyer. “They won’t be made whole, regardless of how we look at this,” says Lou Brzezinski, a partner at Blaney McMurty LLP. The comments follow the filing of a recent affidavit by Philip Mohtadi, […]
As inflation is back on institutional investors’ minds, some are eyeing an allocation to gold, both directly and through companies with exposure to the metal, according to one investment manager. “We’re actively having a lot of conversations right now with institutions,” says John Ciampaglia, chief executive officer of Sprott Inc. “What we’re finding is a lot more reception […]
Despite significant improvements recently to pension plan solvency levels, the start of 2018 has been a challenging one for institutional investors. Shifting monetary policies have put pressure on bond portfolios, while rising yields have started to affect the equity markets. On the equity side, the S&P/TSX composite index has gone from a high of almost […]
On a global scale, regulatory rumblings are growing louder on single-use plastics, highlighting potential risks and opportunities within the plastics supply chain for institutional investors to consider, according to a recent report by Schroder Investment Management Ltd. As plastics move from being an “ecological concern to economic driver,” the report seeks to identify some of the […]
April has been a busy month for the world of defined benefit pension plans. In recent weeks, both the OPSEU Pension Trust and the Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology pension plan have announced plans to offer new defined benefit options to other employers. OPTrust is further along in its journey, since its new offering, called […]
Several of the regulations under Ontario’s new framework for defined benefit pension plans are coming into effect today. “It’s the most comprehensive we’ve seen certainly in my pension lifetime,” says Linda Byron, senior partner at Aon, of Ontario’s suite of pension reforms. As of May 1, 2018, the amortization period for funding a going-concern shortfall […]
The University of Toronto, University of Guelph and Queen’s University are proposing to combine their respective pension schemes into one jointly sponsored defined benefit plan. The plan, coined the University Pension Plan Ontario, would also include certain unions and other staff organizations not currently part of the universities’ academic pension plans. “This is an opportunity for […]
'Select' will target employers that currently don’t have a DB plan.
The OPSEU Pension Trust is launching a new defined benefit plan for employers in the broader public sector, charitable and not-for-profit industries. OPTrust Select will target employers that currently don’t have a defined benefit plan but may provide a capital accumulation program. With employers and employees contributing three per cent each, the plan will provide for an annual […]