By: Jeffrey R. Smith Source: HR Reporter Employer-sponsored pension plans have shifted some of the responsibility for retirement saving to employees, but a supportive plan can be a good tool for recruitment and retention. Canadian HR Reporter spoke about pension plan strategies with Som Seif, founder and CEO of Purpose Investments in Toronto, which recently launched the Longevity Pension Fund. Q: How has an aging workforce affected employers’ approach to pension plans? A: “It’s one of the biggest social [...]

By Rob Koslowski Source: Pensions & Investments The aggregate funding ratio of Canadian pension plans rose to 94.8% as of March 30 from 89.4% three months earlier, according to a survey from Aon. The overall funding deficit was about $21 billion. Overall pension assets lost about 2.3% in value over the quarter ended March 30 due to negative returns on fixed income that were partially offset by strong equity gains, according to a news release Wednesday announcing the survey. [...]

By Steve Randall Source: Wealth Professional Good news for Canada’s retirement savers, pension funds are continuing to improve their financial health in the first three months of 2021. The aggregate funded ratio for Canadian defined benefit pension plans in the S&P/TSX Composite Index increased from 89.4% to 94.8% in the first quarter according to the Aon Pension Risk Tracker. The strong performance of Canadian stocks helped bolster the position of pension funds, partially offsetting negative returns on fixed income assets, [...]

Canada’s pension system was ranked first overall among 15 countries in the Global Pension Transparency Benchmark. It ranked Canadian funds first in governance, citing the “global reputation for superior performance and governance excellence” of Canada’s five largest funds, namely the British Columbia Investment Management Corp., the Caisse de depot et placement du Québec, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board. Of these, the benchmark highlighted the best practices [...]

The aggregate funded ratio for Canadian pension plans in the S&P/TSX composite index increased from 90.8 per cent to 91.2 per cent during the past 12 months, according to Aon’s pension risk tracker. Aon found the funded status deficit decreased by $200 million, which was driven by asset increases of $18.7 billion and offset by year-to-date liability increases of $18.5 billion. Pension assets returned 9.9 per cent over 2020 and ended the fourth quarter up 3.9 per cent. The year-end, [...]

A rally on the stock market in the fourth quarter helped boost the strength of Canadian defined benefit pension plans to end 2020, according to a new report by Mercer Canada. The consulting firm said its pension health index, which represents the solvency ratio of a hypothetical DB plan, rose to 114 per cent at the end of December from 107 per cent at the end of September. Mercer said in the fourth quarter the funded positions of DB [...]

Canadian defined benefit pension plans experienced a pronounced upsurge in the second quarter, posting a median return of 9.6 per cent, according to the RBC Investor & Treasury Services All Plan Universe.  This marked the highest single quarter return in the universe’s history, reversing the steep Q1 losses and raising the median plan’s return to 1.4 per cent on a year-to-date basis. The gains followed a series of aggressive fiscal and monetary support measures introduced in March to address [...]