Despite the low interest rate environment, it still makes sense for defined benefit pension plan sponsors to adopt a liability-driven investment strategy, said Serge Lapierre, global head of LDI at Manulife Investment Management, during a webinar sponsored by the firm on Monday. LDI investing is a risk management framework, he noted. “It’s not an asset […]
When the coronavirus pandemic hit, many organizations were focused on getting through the short term, but defined benefit pension plan sponsors are starting to take another look at de-risking. As of the second quarter of 2020, the total market volume of group annuity purchases year-to-date was $0.5 billion, compared to $1.5 billion in the first […]
Defined benefit pension plans that were on route to de-risking when the coronavirus hit are facing a difficult road ahead in the current lower-for-longer interest rate environment. However, a new de-risking option is available for plan sponsors that didn’t exist in the wake of the global financial crisis: merging with the Colleges of Applied Arts […]
In the second quarter of 2020, the funded positions of defined benefit plans recovered almost half of the losses incurred during the coronavirus crash of the first quarter, according to Mercer’s pension health index. The index, which represents the solvency ratio of a hypothetical DB pension plan, increased to 101 per cent at the end […]
The pension risk-transfer market had another record-breaking year for transactions in 2019, according to Eckler’s latest report. Transactions for the year came to $5.2 billion, with buy-in annuities taking the lead as the dominant risk-transfer strategy with sales of almost $2.6 billion. The average transaction size continued to rise, increasing by 40 per cent, from […]
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 funding levels were at record highs and many pension plan sponsors were considering reducing their pension risk. Fast forward a few months and the novel coronavirus has turned the world […]
West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. isn’t annuitizing multiple defined benefit plans to get out of the pension business. In fact, the British Columbia-based integrated wood products company is committed to DB. “We believe we get tremendous value out of our DB plans around recruitment and definitely around retention of our employees,” says Elaine Jensen, the […]
West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. isn’t annuitizing multiple defined benefit plans to get out of the pension business. In fact, the British Columbia-based integrated wood products company is committed to DB. “We believe we get tremendous value out of our DB plans around recruitment and definitely around retention of our employees,” says Elaine Jensen, the […]
The Co-operative Superannuation Society Pension Plan is making a deal with the Co-operators Group Ltd. on a longevity insurance agreement to protect its annuity offering. “CSS is very proud to have been providing an in-plan annuity option to our members for close to 50 years,” said Martin McInnis, executive director of CSS, in a press […]
North American envelope marker and marketer Supremex Inc. is purchasing a $46 million group annuity buy-in through RBC Life Insurance Co. The deal covers 361 defined benefit plan pensioners, beneficiaries and deferred vested members. It comes on the heels of an almost $7 million transaction made in June 2018 for a smaller group of members […]