September 2023
01Sep

Canada’s largest pension fund trims staff as it puts China deals on hold

CPP Investments, Canada's biggest pension fund, has laid off at least five investment professionals at its Hong Kong office as it steps back from deals in China, three people with knowledge of the matter said. Most were on the fund's private equity team and were informed early last month, according to two of the people. The departures have not been previously reported. They added that a managing director who was in charge of the firm's Greater China real estate portfolio had...

September 1, 2023
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August 2023
28Aug

Canada is burning, so why is our national pension fund still heavily into fossil fuels?

By: Patrick DeRochie   Patrick DeRochie is the senior manager of Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health, a charitable project that tracks the fossil fuel investments and climate policies of Canadian pension funds, and mobilizes pension beneficiaries to engage fund managers on the climate crisis. As Canada experiences a record-shattering summer of deadly extreme weather, it’s worth remembering that our national pension fund has poured much of our retirement savings into the primary cause of the climate crisis: fossil fuels. In...

August 28, 2023
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25Aug

Canada’s Largest Pension Fund Invests in Reforestation Project in the Amazon

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has joined a project led by Mombak Gestora de Recursos to produce carbon credits through reforestation efforts in Brazil’s Amazon region. The Canadian pension fund will invest up to US$30 million in Mombak’s reforestation fund, which aims to reach a target of US$100 million. The investment reflects a growing demand for carbon removal projects in voluntary carbon markets, as buyers increasingly favor initiatives that actually remove carbon rather than simply avoiding emissions. Mombak plans...

August 25, 2023
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11Aug

Report finds Canadian pension risk transfer market saw $7.8BN in transferred liabilities in 2022

Canada’s pension de-risking market saw a record-breaking year in 2022, with $7.8 billion in transferred liabilities and 155 transactions, according to a new report by Eckler Ltd. Mary Kate Archibald, pension principal at the consultancy, says the increase in the total sum for the year wasn’t a surprise due to the interest rate environment. To stave off rising inflation, the Bank of Canada has hiked interest rates 10 times in a row since March 2022. “When interest rates go up, the...

August 11, 2023
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July 2023
27Jul

Canadian Pension Plans Look to Annuities, Fixed Income to Preserve Pension Surpluses

Many Canadian pension plans are in the enviable position of having a funded surplus, as of the year’s second quarter, thanks to positive market returns and higher interest rates that increased assets and lowered liabilities. The Mercer Pension Health Pulse, a measure that tracks the median solvency ratio of Canadian corporate defined benefit pension plans in the firm’s pension database, increased to 119% at the end of the second quarter. Mercer estimates 85% of these plans were in a surplus...

July 27, 2023
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24Jul

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board to seed more startups

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Canada’s largest pension fund, will seed more startup hedge funds this year as part of a plan to diversify its investments, according to a report by the Financial Post. The CPPIB, which manages $570 billion in assets, will spread funding among more firms as part of its emerging manager programme by reducing the starting amount they invest with each fund. Each will receive amounts starting from US$50 million, down from US$100 million, a person...

July 24, 2023
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23Jul

Public pensions reporting act

By Minister of Justice A valuation report filed pursuant to this section shall be prepared in a manner consistent with the guides and Recommendations for the preparation of an actuarial report in connection with a pension plan, published by the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, and shall include such additional information as the Minister may from time to time require. Read book “here”

July 23, 2023
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07Jul

Canada. Expert panel: How portable benefits can support inclusivity among gig workers

The concept of employee benefits was established on a foundation built decades ago, when employees worked full time and long term with one employer. Those days are long gone. Temporary, part-time and gig work have become the norm, accounting for 60 per cent of job growth in advanced economies since the 1990s. Gig work is popular in sectors such as the arts, entertainment and recreation and it’s also more prevalent among immigrants than workers born in Canada. In 2016, 10.8 per...

July 7, 2023
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06Jul

Canada. Reducing barriers to lifetime retirement income

Planning and saving for retirement is too hard for most Canadians. Seventy percent of Canadians are worried they aren’t saving enough for retirement, and 62% are concerned they will outlive their retirement savings. Unlike in our working years when the goal is to accumulate funds to maintain a quality standard of living in retirement, the later phases of life when those savings are steadily drawn down can expose overlooked risks and misconceptions about budgeting in retirement. Part of the challenge is that...

July 6, 2023
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05Jul

Canada. DB pension plans improve in second quarter

  The health of Canadian defined benefit pension plans continued to improve in the second quarter of 2023, according to consulting firm Mercer. The company said the median solvency ratio of defined benefit plans in its database ticked upward to 119% at the end of June, meaning more than half had a surplus of funds. That’s despite the U.S. debt ceiling scare and the lingering effects of the banking crises south of the border, Mercer said. Pension funds’ investment returns were mostly positive...

July 5, 2023
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