October 2018

04Oct

Financial health of Canadian defined-benefit pension plans hits all-time quarterly high in Q3 2018

Rising bond yields and a continuing strong U.S. equity market helped boost the health of Canadian defined benefit pension plans to the highest level ever recorded, according to the latest quarterly Median Solvency Ratio from Aon, a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions. Quotes: “Aon has been measuring median solvency for the better part of two decades now, and we have never seen quarterly levels this high,” said William da Silva, Senior...

October 4, 2018
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September 2018

25Sep

Canada. Non-profit workers offered chance to join Ontario public sector pension plan

As many as one million Ontarians who work for registered charities and non-profit organizations will be eligible to join the provincial government pension plan under an agreement being announced Monday. The Ontario Nonprofit Network, which advocates on behalf of the province’s 58,000 charities and non-profits, is recommending OPTrust as the sector’s first defined-benefit pension provider. The new OPTrust Select plan will be available to every registered charity and non-profit in Ontario, whether it has one employee or hundreds, said the network’s...

September 25, 2018
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August 2018

16Aug

Canada. BMO Capital Markets Launches First-of-its-Kind Blockchain Pilot to Mirror Canadian Dollar Fixed Income Issuance Transaction with Ontario Teachers’

First Canadian dollar fixed income issuance by a major bank in Canada testing blockchain technology TORONTO, Aug. 15, 2018 /CNW/ - BMO Capital Markets today announced that it has successfully launched a pilot fixed income issuance transaction, mirrored on a blockchain platform alongside leading pension fund investor Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (Ontario Teachers'). The transaction included Bank of Montreal as the issuer and Ontario Teachers' as the buyer of a CDN$250MM 1-year floating rate Deposit Note, making it the first Canadian...

August 16, 2018
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July 2018

31Jul

Canada. Morneau Shepell releases the results of its Performance Universe of Pension Managers’ Pooled Funds

Morneau Shepell (TSX: MSI) has released the results of its Performance Universe of Pension Managers' Pooled Funds for the second quarter of 2018. According to the report, in the second quarter of 2018, diversified pooled fund managers posted a median return of 2.9 per cent before management fees. "Most stock markets delivered excellent results in the second quarter, generating positive pension fund returns. Canadian and U.S. equities did particularly well, with returns of 6.8 per cent for the S&P/TSX and 5.6...

July 31, 2018
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February 2018

12Feb

Headed for the Poorhouse: How to Ensure Seniors Don't Run Out of Cash Before They Run Out of Time

By Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald (Ryerson University - The National Institute of Aging (NIA)) Income security in later life (age 85) is more important now than ever. More attention needs to be paid to how Canadians can best draw down their savings after retirement and secure adequate income for advanced ages. Retiring Canadians need innovative solutions – ones that add definitive value but place no new pressures on the Canadian public purse. I propose a government-led solution: Canada’s Living Income For the...

February 12, 2018
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12Feb

Headed for the Poorhouse: How to Ensure Seniors Don’t Run Out of Cash Before They Run Out of Time

By Bonnie-Jeanne MacDonald (Ryerson University - The National Institute of Aging (NIA)) Income security in later life (age 85) is more important now than ever. More attention needs to be paid to how Canadians can best draw down their savings after retirement and secure adequate income for advanced ages. Retiring Canadians need innovative solutions – ones that add definitive value but place no new pressures on the Canadian public purse. I propose a government-led solution: Canada’s Living Income For the...

February 12, 2018
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January 2018

25Jan

Canada. Morneau Shepell releases the results of its Performance Universe of Pension Managers’ Pooled Funds

Morneau Shepell (TSX: MSI) has released the results of its Performance Universe of Pension Managers' Pooled Funds for the fourth quarter of 2017. According to the report, in the fourth quarter of 2017, diversified pooled fund managers posted a median return of 3.9 per cent before management fees. For 2017 as a whole, diversified pooled fund managers obtained a median return of 8.6 per cent. "Stimulated by strong and synchronized global economic growth, stock markets rose to record levels in 2017....

January 25, 2018
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23Jan

Canadian pension fund buying USD-144m stake in India’s ReNew Power

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) is paying USD 144 million (EUR 118m) for a minority stake in Indian renewables developer and operator ReNew Power Ventures Pvt Ltd The two parties said in a joint statement today that the Toronto-based investment management organisation is acquiring a 6.3% stake in ReNew Power from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The lender made its own equity investment in ReNew Power in July 2014. ReNew Power is an independent power producer (IPP) that develops wind,...

January 23, 2018
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05Jan

Canada. Aon survey finds financial health of defined benefit pension plans ends 2017 near decade-long highs

Aon’s Median Solvency Ratio at end of Q4 2017 stood at 99.2% Pension plans’ financial strength positions them well to manage liabilities in 2018 Capping a year that saw the financial health of Canadian defined benefit pension plans reach levels not seen in more than a decade, plan solvency in the fourth quarter of 2017 maintained the trend and remained near the post-recession high set in Q3, according to Aon’s latest quarterly Median Solvency Ratio survey. Read more @GloblalNewswire

January 5, 2018
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04Jan

Canadian pensions fared well in 2017 on stock markets’ strength: Mercer

Defined-benefit pension plans in Canada generally ended 2017 in better financial condition than they've experienced for most of the past decade, according to figures released Wednesday by Mercer. The international pension consulting firm's Canadian index of pension health – based on a hypothetical, representative fund – stood at 106 per cent on Dec. 29, up from 102 per cent at the beginning of the year and a dismal 70 per cent after the 2008-09 financial crisis. "Equity markets had crashed and...

January 4, 2018
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