Pension Pulse

Kim Willsher of The Guardian reports that Emmanuel Macron says he will not back down over pension age rise: Emmanuel Macron has insisted he will not back down over raising the French pension age as he came out fighting in a live TV interview ahead of another day of national strikes and protests. The president ruled out the dissolution of parliament, a reshuffle of his centrist government and the resignation of his prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, as the opposition has demanded. He said he had full confidence in Borne and only one personal regret: “That I have not succeeded in convincing people of the necessity of this reform.” This failure and widespread opposition to the raising of the official retirement age from 62 to 64 , as well as the government’s use of a constitutional clause to push the measure through without a vote, has played out on the streets over the past few days as protesters clashed with police in cities across France. Macron’s administration narrowly sur

David Milstead of the Globe and Mail reports the health care workers’ pension swings to a loss in 2022, its first in 14 years: The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, long a top performer among Canada’s big pension plans, swung to a loss in 2022, its first in 14 years. HOOPP said Friday it posted a loss of 8.60 per cent on its investment portfolio, cutting its assets to $103.7-billion at year end. The plan, which serves 435,000 active and retired Ontario health care workers at more than 630 employers, dipped to its lowest level of funding since 2014 – but that funding ratio, which compares its assets with the future benefits it owes members, still stood at 117 per cent, down from 120 per cent at the end of 2021 . In an interview, chief investment officer Michael Wissell said the annual loss, HOOPP’s first since the financial crisis in 2008, was “disappointing” – but unsurprising for a pension plan with its asset mix. “We have, broadly, a more decent allocation to public

BCI posted a short Q&A on LinkedIn with David Moharty, its EVP Corporate & investor Relations: How has your department contributed to the growth of BCI’s global footprint? Our teams are responsible for engaging with our clients, government, the media, the public, and other stakeholders. As our presence has grown, so has interest in BCI from around the world. This requires our teams to think about stakeholders on a global level. This includes work that began during BCI’s transformation to deepen the ways we communicate with our clients, ensuring they have the knowledge and information necessary to confidently oversee sophisticated – and increasingly global – investments and strategies. As BCI has evolved, how has client reporting changed? It is imperative that we share timely and relevant information that allows clients to understand how their investments are performing and how risks an