Most 401(k) plans that have qualified default investment funds (QDIA’s) have chosen target date funds as their default investments. Target date funds change their mix of investments to become more conservative over time in relation to a projected retirement age. Despite their popularity, target date funds are not well understood by either the fiduciaries who… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Investments
Subscribe to Investments RSS FeedCAPSA Guidelines re Prudent Investments and Funding Policies
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, DB Plan Funding, DC Plans, Investments, Plan AdministrationThe Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities (CAPSA) has been working away at providing pension plan administrators with guidance regarding pension plan investing and funding. As we reported earlier, CAPSA released draft guidelines this past spring. Those guidelines were released on November 15, 2011 in final form: Guideline No.6 – Pension Plan Prudent Investment Practices… Continue Reading
Ontario Adopts Changes to Federal Investment Rules
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, Investments, Legislation & Regulations, Pension ReformEffective March 25, 2011, Ontario amended the regulations under its Pension Benefits Act (the Regulations) to adopt the federal investment rules “as they may be amended from time to time.” Previously, Ontario had adopted the investment rules as they read on December 31, 1999 – requiring any changes to the rules made by the federal… Continue Reading
Service Provider Sued Over Investment Advice to Pension Committee
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, Investments, Plan AdministrationA few recent cases have highlighted the importance of setting up appropriate governance and oversight processes to select and monitor plan investments. This is particularly true in the current era of underfunded pension plans, where the investment of plan assets may come under greater scrutiny. In one of these cases, which is still pending before… Continue Reading
Federal Bill C-47 Receives Royal Assent
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, DC Plans, Investments, Legislation & Regulations, Pension Reform, Plan AdministrationThe federal government announced that Bill C-47, which included another round of pension reform, received royal assent yesterday. As discussed in a prior post, Bill C-47 follows up on the Bill C-9 amendments to the federal Pension Benefits Standards Act (the PBSA) that were passed earlier this year. Perhaps the most interesting are amendments which purport to… Continue Reading
Federal Government Moves Ahead with Further Pension Reform
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, DC Plans, Investments, Legislation & Regulations, Pension Reform, Plan AdministrationOn September 30, 2010, the federal government introduced Bill C-47, which makes further amendments in conjunction with this year’s budget, including another round of pension reform amendments. Among these, perhaps the most interesting are the amendments which purport to provide defined contribution (DC) plan administrators with a limited form of “safe harbour” from liability related… Continue Reading
Amendments to Federal DB Funding and Plan Investment Rules Finalized and Regulator Responds
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, DB Plan Funding, Investments, Legislation & Regulations, Pension Reform, Regulator Policies & CommunicationsOn June 25, 2010 the federal government announced that it finalized the amendments to the defined benefit funding provisions and the federal investment rules, which it had released in draft form for comment earlier this year. Most of these amendments to the Pension Benefits Standards Regulations, 1985 come into force on July 1, 2010.
Federal Government Removes Limits on Pension Plan Investments in Real Estate and Canadian Resource Properties
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, Investments, Pension ReformFollowing up on its previously announced intention to modernize the rules governing investments by pension funds, on May 3, 2010, the federal government released draft regulations that will, among other things, eliminate the existing quantitative limits on pension plan investments in real estate and Canadian resource properties. Specifically, the current provisions to be eliminated are… Continue Reading
Federal Government Proposes Changes to DB Plan Funding and Plan Investments
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, DB Plan Funding, Investments, Pension ReformOn May 3, 2010, the federal government released draft regulations, which propose changes to the defined benefit plan funding provisions and the federal investment rules. The proposed changes will directly affect pension plans that are registered under the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985 (PBSA) with the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI). But… Continue Reading
CAPSA Consultation Update – Prudence Standard in Pension Plan Funding and Investments
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, Investments, Plan Administration, Regulator Policies & CommunicationsAs I discussed in an earlier post, the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities recently published a consultation paper entitled “The Prudence Standard and the Roles of the Plan Sponsor and Plan Administrator in Pension Plan Funding and Investment” (PDF). The comment period for the paper – which provides helpful guidance to pension plan sponsors and… Continue Reading
Mixed Result for CCWIPP Trustees in Pension Plan Investment Prosecution
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, DC Plans, Investments, Plan AdministrationThe highly anticipated judgment of the Ontario Court of Justice in the Canadian Commercial Workers Industry Pension Plan (CCWIPP) trustee prosecution (PDF) was released on December 7th. The case centered on whether members of CCWIPP’s Board of Trustees, as administrator, and the Investment Committee (a subset of the Board of Trustees) breached their obligations under… Continue Reading
CAPSA Releases Consultation Paper on Prudence Standard and Roles of Plan Sponsor and Administrator in Pension Plan Funding and Investment
Posted in Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, Investments, Plan Administration, Regulator Policies & CommunicationsThe Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authorities (CAPSA) recently published a consultation paper entitled “The Prudence Standard and the Roles of the Plan Sponsor and Plan Administrator in Pension Plan Funding and Investment” (PDF). The paper provides helpful guidance to pension plan sponsors and administrators regarding the regulators’ view of best practices for pension plan… Continue Reading
$7.5 Million Settlement Reached in Jeffrey Mine Pension Class Action
Posted in Bankruptcy, Canada Pensions & Benefits Law, Investments, Plan AdministrationA $7.5 million class action settlement was recently reached in the Jeffrey Mine case. The settlement brings an end to the $21 million class action lawsuits brought by the members of two pension plans against the pension committee members (acting as plan administrators) — TAL Global Asset Management Inc. and Buck Consultants Limited. The plans in… Continue Reading