On June 24, British buyout fund Resolution Ltd. said that it has agreed to acquire a package of U.K. businesses from French insurer AXA SA in a deal worth 2.75 billion pounds or US$4.1 billion. Resolution says it intends to merge the AXA businesses with another British insurance company, Friends Provident, doubling Resolution’s share of [...]
The Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) is mandated by law to release its Statement of Priorities by June 30 of each year. As such, FSCO has just released this year’s document – its thirteenth Statement of Priorities. In this year’s Statement, FSCO outlined several key focus areas. Work in these areas will be carried [...]
Ontario’s highest court has closed the door on a pension increase for fired Hydro One executive Eleanor Clitheroe. Clitheroe sued Hydro One seeking to have her pension raised to $33,644.21 a month – slightly more than the average Hydro One pensioner gets annually. The lawsuit was originally dismissed, but in appealing it to the Court [...]
Eleanor Clitheroe, who made millions at the helm of Hydro One Inc. before being fired, is arguing it is “pure vindictiveness” for the government to limit her pension. Clitheroe, who was dismissed in July 2002 after weeks of controversy over executive salaries at the province’s publicly owned transmission utility, is suing Hydro One. Clitheroe is [...]
An attempt by a group of disabled Nortel employees has failed to win a hearing at the Ontario Court of Appeal of their objections to an agreement the company reached for pensioners and employees on long-term disability. The court denied the group leave to appeal the settlement reached in March. The agreement sets aside $57 [...]
The chief financial officer of the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec is leaving, the big fund manager said. The Caisse said the search for a replacement for Ghislain Parent has under way for some time and a replacement will be announced shortly. In the meantime, the Caisse said president and chief executive Michael [...]
The federal government is too generous in subsidizing public service pensions and its time to start leveling the playing field with the private sector, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business says. “The federal government uses taxpayer dollars to ever-so-generously outmatch its employees’ pension contributions,” the CFIB said in a submission to the federal government’s consultations [...]
One of Canada’s big banking groups says rules for federal retirement savings plans should be changed to give people more control over their pensions. BMO Financial Group recommends the removal of age restrictions be on registered retirement savings plans, also known as RRSPs, and reduced tax rates for RRIFs, which are registered retirement income funds. [...]
The Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec’s continuing efforts to get back on track will see Canada’s largest pension fund manager cut operating expenses by $20 million this year without resorting to layoffs. The Montreal-based investing giant said its efficiency drive will see it refocus and simplify its operations to improve its finances. “The [...]
A vast majority of Canadian employers are taking substantive steps to mitigate the effects of the ongoing funding crisis facing their defined benefit (DB) pension plans, according to a new survey from Towers Watson. The majority of employers surveyed believe the pension funding crisis is likely to continue beyond the next few years. Over two [...]
View the video here on your mobile device. Today’s tip: Share the love… and your income. If you received eligible pension income in 2009, up to 50% can be reported in your spouse’s or common-law partner’s tax return.
The head of the Canadian Auto Workers union is throwing his support behind a proposal that would see Canadians pay more into the Canada Pension Plan to greatly increase their retirement benefits. CAW president Ken Lewenza said he supports a proposal by the Canadian Labour Congress to gradually increase the amount workers pay into the [...]
New research by the Environics Research Group finds that 89 per cent of Canadians want workplace-based retirement savings programs made available to all workers. Fifty-six per cent of those not already in such plans are interested in joining one, with younger workers particularly keen (69 per cent of 18-29 years olds and 68 per cent [...]
A new study says just over 8.9 million employed Canadian tax filers participated in a private retirement savings plan in 2008, about half of all tax filers. Coming as the federal and provincial governments begin looking at ways to reform the country’s troubled pension system, the Statistics Canada report says the proportion of private pension [...]
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will ask Canadians how best to reform the country’s pension system. Flaherty has announced plans for a string of town-hall meetings, expert roundtables, policy conferences and public online consultations aimed involving a wide variety of Canadians in the discussion. Ottawa wants to sound out public opinion on the state of retirement [...]
Stop buying those lattes or splurging on vacations. David Dodge, former governor of the Bank of Canada, says Canadians need to save far more if they want to retire comfortably – even those Canadians who think they have great company pension plans and solid RRSPs. In a study on savings for the C.D. Howe Institute, [...]
View the video here on your mobile device. The Financial Services of Commission of Ontario is required to deliver a statement of its priorities each year, and it has just released its draft for 2010. FSCO is focused on five areas this year, and work within these areas will be carried out along with FSCO’s [...]
View the video here on your mobile device. Canadian employers are increasing contributions to their group retirement plans and more employees are maximizing their contributions to get full employer matching contributions, according to the 2009 Capital Accumulation Plan Benchmark Report. Sponsored by The Great-West Life Assurance Company and based on a survey by Benefits Canada/Canadian [...]
