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 [...]