Pension Pulse

Inayat Singh of CBC News reports  Canada wants to build up to 10 new nuclear plants, but will our pension funds pay for them?:  When Tim Hodgson, Canada’s natural resources minister, announced the federal government’s plan to dramatically expand the nuclear energy industry , he cited a project in the U.K. as a model. That plant, Sizewell C on the Suffolk coast of England, is set to cost 38.2 billion pounds ($72.3 billion Cdn). But a key detail is that private investors are taking a 55 per cent stake in the project by sharing the construction costs. Hodgson wants to emulate that model to achieve his government's lofty target of building up to 10 new reactors in Canada. The prospect isn't far-fetched: one of Sizewell C’s investors is La Caisse , the public pension fund of Quebec, which has taken a 20 per cent stake in the reactor through an investment of $3.2 billion Cdn. But attracting this kind of investment isn't easy, especially for risk-averse pension funds. Nuclea...

James Bradshaw of the Globe and Mail reports  OMERS streamlines leadership structure after investment chief departs: The OMERS pension plan is redrawing its leadership structure to create more direct reporting lines to chief executive officer Blake Hutcheson after investment chief Ralph Berg left the fund this week to take a new job. Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System announced Thursday that it is giving expanded roles to Michael Hill, who will oversee the plan’s infrastructure and private equity divisions worldwide, and to Scott McIntosh, who takes on responsibility for the plan’s equities team. OMERS will not name a new chief investment officer, and Mr. Hutcheson will take on duties from Mr. Berg, whose departure to take a new role at Singaporean state-owned fund Temasek Holdings Ltd. was announced in June . Five senior executives will report directly to Mr. Hutcheson, giving him clear responsibility for the fund’s investing activities on a daily basis. T...

CPP Investments CEO John Graham wrote a comment for the Financial Post on why protecting the CPP means taking the long view on investment returns: Every July 1, Canadians from coast to coast take stock of what we’ve built together and the many bold actions that have shaped Canada into the resilient country it is today. Take 1965, for example. This was a year that united us under one symbol, the national maple leaf flag. That year, we also helped secure our collective financial future through the creation of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP). The CPP was a big, bold idea: Canadians would be safer and more secure in retirement if we worked together and looked after one another. For 30 years, the CPP prospered and helped reduce seniors’ poverty. So, when demographic shifts began to threaten CPP sustainability, Canadians came together again to save the program. In 1997, the federal government and participating provincial governments increased contribution rates and created CPP Inve...

Amit Chowdhry of Pulse 2.0 reports  Warburg Pincus to buy Network Plus from OMERS Private Equity: Warburg Pincus announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Network Plus from OMERS Private Equity and other shareholders. Network Plus is a UK-based utility and infrastructure services provider founded in 2000 and headquartered in Worsley, Greater Manchester. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction is intended to accelerate Network Plus’ growth as a provider of maintenance, enhancement, and operational services across the water, wastewater, gas, power, and broader infrastructure sectors. Network Plus works with major UK utility providers to support critical infrastructure investment and performance goals. The company delivers essential services that help maintain and improve utility networks serving communities across the country. Warburg Pincus said it plans to support Network Plus’ continued growth and service delivery, whi...

Benefits Canada reports that according to new survey by HOOPP and Abacus Data, 65% of younger Canadian employees willing to switch jobs for a DB pension plan:  Nearly two-thirds (65 per cent) of Canadian employees aged younger than 35 say they’d consider changing jobs if a new employer offered a defined benefit pension plan, according to a new survey by the Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan and Abacus Data. The survey, which polled more than 2,000 workers, found 63 per cent of younger Canadians said they might relocate to another community to have access to a job with a DB pension. More than nine in 10 Canadians said they’d choose to pay nine per cent of their salary, with contributions matched by their employer, into a DB pension plan in exchange for secure lifetime income in retirement. Seven in 10 (69 per cent) said they’d take a slightly lower salary if the job came with a pension and more than half (57 per cent) said they’d choose a guaranteed lifetime p...