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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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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December 2017

04Dec

Income Adequacy Among Canadian Seniors: Helping Singles Most

By Philip Bazel (University of Calgary - The School of Public Policy) & Jack Mintz (University of Calgary - The School of Public Policy; CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)) Canadians have heard a great deal of discussion in the national media about expanding the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), driven by concerns that many will retire without having made proper arrangements to adequately replace their incomes with pensions and savings. But the proposed remedies have been targeted at...

December 4, 2017
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November 2017

23Nov

World Bank report shines spotlight on Canadian pension model

Canadian public pension funds and pension plans are regarded as among the best in the world, but they underwent an evolution of changes to get to where they are today. Because of their success, the World Bank Group partnered with four Canadian pension funds, Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP), and OPTrust, as well as the Government of Ontario on a report that studies the evolution...

November 23, 2017
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23Nov

Why Canadian pension plans must divest of fossil fuel investments

Combatting climate change hinges on divestment of fossil fuels across all spheres of activity. According to scientists, we are facing an impending disaster if we do not stop burning fossil fuels. Therefore, companies must reduce their carbon footprint to net zero, and carbon-based firms that cannot or refuse to change must wind down. Communities with significant economic dependence on firms that refuse to change must invest in and attract clean sustainable industries instead. Communities have to act now so as to...

November 23, 2017
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21Nov

Bitcoin and Blockchain Aren’t Investible Yet, Canada Pension Says

Mark Machin, the head of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, said he doesn’t think the bitcoin and blockchain space is “investible” yet, but the country’s largest pension fund is monitoring it with interest. "We’re watching it,” Machin said in a speech Monday. “I don’t think it’s institutionally investible yet. It’s really early days and there’s going to be lots of disruption." He said CPPIB has more than 100 people at its offices in Toronto watching the space carefully. Most investors are...

November 21, 2017
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21Nov

Canada Pension Plan is safe for generations, says CEO of investment board

In his travels to every province and one territory over the last 17 months, British-born Mark Machin was struck most by one thing about Canadians. “There’s still this myth that’s circulating that the Canada Pension Plan won’t be there when you retire,” said the CEO of the CPP Investment Board, the largest pension fund in the country that manages a $328-billion investment portfolio on behalf of 20 million Canadian workers and retirees. “You ask the average person — stop anyone on...

November 21, 2017
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