The government of Newfoundland and Labrador is amending funding rules for the province’s multi-employer pension plans. The amendments include a permanent exemption from solvency funding requirements for MEPPs, retroactive to Dec. 31, 2020, when the previous temporary exemption ended. In addition, going-concern unfunded liabilities must now be funded over 10 years instead of the previous […]
The Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology Pension Plan is reporting an 11.1 per cent return for 2020, exceeding its policy benchmark by 0.4 per cent. The return brings the annualized 10-year net return to 9.9 per cent, providing $1.7 billion in cumulative added value compared to the benchmark, while funding reserves increased to $3.3 […]
The funding status and confidence of Canadian defined benefit pension plans declined in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic and a low interest-rate environment, according to a new survey from RBC Investor & Treasury Services. It found among 122 respondents, 50 per cent reported their plans were fully funded on a going-concern basis, down significantly from […]
Canada’s largest pension plans are reporting mixed financial results from a year marked by the coronavirus pandemic. The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec reported a 7.7 per cent return on its depositors’ funds in 2020, representing $24.8 billion in investment results. As at Dec. 31, 2020, the Caisse’s net assets totalled $365.5 billion, up […]
The Canadian Investment Review’s Risk Management Award will go to a pension plan that has successfully implemented a robust approach to its risk management function. This can include implementing de-risking or re-risking or it can showcase day-to-day processes in place for risk management in pension plan investments. Highlights about the three finalists are available below: […]
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 […]
With asset deterioration due to drops in equity markets and a decrease in long-term government bond yields causing an increase in solvency liabilities, pension funds are in a tough position. A Canadian defined benefit solvency funding calculation assumes some plan members will elect to take a commuted-value lump sum, while other members will elect to […]
Since using a single benchmark portfolio to measure a pension plan’s funding status paints a narrow picture, a new report by PBI Actuaries and Consultants looked at four different portfolio types to see how the equity fall off at the end of the year, among other market events, affected different asset mixes. The liability portfolio kept […]
The Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology pension plan has reached a going-concern funding status of 120 per cent as of Jan. 1, 2019, up from 118 per cent last year. Along with the increased funded status, the plan’s funding reserve rose from $2.3 billion to $2.6 billion. The CAAT’s funding policy includes six funding […]
The Actuarial Standards Board is consulting on changes to key components of how the commuted value for a pension plan is calculated. The commuted-value standard is used to determine how much to pay a terminating plan member who chooses to take their pension payment as a lump sum. It’s also a key part of calculating […]