August 25, 2010

At its meeting of August 24, the SC determined the allocation of temporary contribution rate increases for 2011; more details and examples will be available soon, and a table outlining specific amounts can be seen here.

The OMERS Fall Information Meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 18, from 10:30 am to 12:30 pm at One University Avenue.  Please click here for more details and for registration information.  Please note that seating is limited and the registration deadline is October 12.

July 14, 2010

At its meeting of July 13, the SC received  actuarial advice regarding acceptable methods for allocating the contribution increases recently approved for 2011-2013.  The SC has not yet reached a final decision and the issue will be reconsidered August 24th at the next SC meeting.

Another item coming forward at the August meeting includes the formalization of a 'technical plan change' (i.e. a plan change that has no impact on contribution rates or benefit levels) to allow members to access benefits in situations where the member has left employment and where a grievance or other legal proceeding in which the member's reinstatement is sought has been initiated.  The terms and conditions for this were approved in principle several months ago, and will be confirmed in a by-law to meet regulatory requirements. 

In SC committee updates, the incoming three new SC Members have stepped into the vacant seats of the Members they succeeded on the Audit and on the Human Resources & Compensation Committees, through to the end of this calendar year.  At the recommendation of the Corporate Governance Committee, which completed its due diligence, the Board agreed to commence a governance self-assessment program in the coming months.  The Board also agreed to completion of a contribution rate study in 2011.

July 5, 2010 - SC Approves Plan Changes

At its recent meeting, OMERS Sponsors Corporation (SC) has approved temporary changes to support the funded status of the OMERS Primary Plan:

• A three-year contribution rate increase for both members and employers, beginning in 2011, following the filing of the 2009 Primary Plan actuarial valuation with regulators this year.
• Changes to the calculation of benefits members receive if they terminate employment before they’re eligible for an early retirement pension. (This only affects benefits based on service earned after 2012.)

OMERS pension formula, inflation protection in retirement, survivor benefits and disability benefits are not affected. 

For further information, click here to go to Plan Design Changes.

This completes the 2010 plan design cycle; the SC considered ten proposals this year, including two submitted by stakeholders.

July 1, 2010 - Three New Board Members

Terms for eight of 14 seats on the SC ended on June 30th.  As a result, we welcome three new SC Members who were appointed by their sponsoring organizations effective July 1st of this year through to December 31st of 2013, and welcome back those who were reappointed. 

New Members are: 

• Paul Bailey, the Retiree Group representative (Police Pensioners Association of Ontario)
• Mark Ferguson, CUPE Local 416
• Wayne McNally, Ontario Public School Boards' Association (OAPSB)

Reappointed Members are:

• Marianne Love, John Fleming, Bruce Miller, Garth Pierce and Frank Ramagnano

Our six other Board Members were reappointed by their sponsors on July 1st of 2009, and their terms run to December 31st of 2012. 

On behalf of the SC Board and staff, the Co-Chairs gratefully acknowledge the contribution of the three departing SC Members, each of whom have been with the SC since its inception in 2006.  Brian Cain, appointed by OAPSB, has served as Chair of the Audit Committee and been a member of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee (HRCC) ; Ann Dembinski, from CUPE Local 79, served on both Audit and HRCC, and Glen Mills, the Retiree Group representative (MROO) sat on the Audit Committee from the beginning.  We wish departing SC Members all the best in their endeavours! 

April 22, 2010

At the SC meeting of April 20, seven additional Specified Plan Change proposals were made by SC Members. The proposals include a wide range of approaches to addressing the funding challenges currently facing the OMERS pension plans and RCA, including contribution rate increases, options for multi-dimensional contribution rate and/or benefit adjustments, as well as some proposals regarding NRA 60 and contributions during periods of reduced pay or hours.   All 10 of these proposals (three of which were originally submitted via stakeholder request and subsequently picked up by SC Members) can be seen on the Plan Design page, and will be updated if and when amendments are made to them.

The SC Co-Chairs and Executive Director participated in the OMERS Spring Information Meeting on April 21st and spoke about the plan design process and other issues which are under consideration by the SC. 

Last September, we posted a 'Notice of Hearing' on this website (see September 15, below) issued by the Financial Services Tribunal.  The Hearing concerned an application brought by an OMERS retiree that challenged a change regarding the methodology for determining inflation indexing (part of SC By-Law #7), approved by the SC in 2007.  OMERS SC and AC were both parties to the Hearing, which was held in late January and February of this year.  On March 26th, the Tribunal announced its decision confirming the plan change as registered with FSCO.  The applicant has subsequently requested a review of the decision, and a final decision is expected soon.  Fees paid by the SC to date for legal and external actuarial services have been in excess of $225,000.

2009 Annual Report

2009 Consolidated Annual Report (PDF)

2009 OMERS SC Annual Report (PDF)

2009 OMERS SC Annual Report (French Version) (PDF)

2009 OMERS AC Annual Report (PDF)

2009 OMERS In Focus (PDF)

March 25, 2010

At the SC Board Meeting of March 23, three specified plan change proposals were tabled by SC Members.  Two of these proposals had been originally submitted by Stakeholders (SPC #02-10 and SPC #03-10) and additional proposals may still be submitted by SC Members at the April 20th SC meeting.  Details of all tabled proposals and the entire specified plan change process can be seen here.

Projection Valuations for the next three years were presented by the OAC; this information, along with the 2009 Primary Plan Valuation, will assist the SC during the coming months as proposals are considered.

March 12, 2010

Primary Plan - Funded Status at December 31, 2009

Recently OMERS announced a 10.6% total rate of return in 2009 for the OMERS Primary Plan, compared to a negative 15.3% total rate of return in 2008.  While the 2009 results are indeed positive, the investment losses suffered in 2008 continue to affect the funded status of the Plan.

On  February 25, 2010, the OMERS Sponsors Corporation received the actuarial valuation report for the OMERS Primary Plan as of December 31, 2009.  The report indicates that the deficit has grown from $279 million at the end of 2008 to $1,519 million at the end of 2009.  The increased deficit is attributable to the economic downturn of 2008, together with changes to some actuarial assumptions.  An additional $4,950 million of deferred losses must still be recognized over the next four years.

The SC considers the funded status of the Plan along with other considerations as part of its Plan Design Change process. 

Note:  Subsection 15(1) of the OMERS Act, 2006, stipulates that the SC shall not amend the Primary Plan in a manner which reduces contributions or increases going concern liabilities unless, after the amendment, the ratio of the market value of assets to the going concern actuarial liabilities is not less than 1.05.  At December 31, this ratio was 0.88.

March 5, 2010 

2010 Plan Changes

November 25, 2009

Three OMERS names among Benefits Canada Awards Recipients

The top 25 Most Influential Plan Sponsors, according to Benefits Canada Magazine, were announced last week, and three OMERS names were among them.
OMERS Administration Corporation CEO Michael Nobrega and Chief Pension Office Jennifer Brown along with OMERS Sponsors Corporation Executive Director John Poos all received this distinguished title.

The purpose of the Benefits Canada Awards is to celebrate the best and brightest in the Canadian pension industry. OMERS is honored to have three people on this distinguished list and we offer our congratulations to Michael, Jennifer and John.

October 1, 2009

The 2009 OMERS Fall Information Meeting for Sponsors and Stakeholders will be on Friday, October 23, 2009, 10:30 - 12:30
Click here for the agenda and information on registering. Please note that the deadline to register is October 19; seating is limited.

September 15, 2009

The SC and the AC, supported by the Superintendent of Financial Services, are responding to an appeal of the registration of By-Law #7, which, in order to reduce volatility, changed the indexing calculation to a 12 month average, calculated from October to October, like CPP and other major Ontario pension plans.

Previously, indexing had been calculated as September over September and was not annualized.

The Financial Services Commission has ordered the SC and the AC to provide copies of the Notice of Hearing to potentially affected parties.

The deadline for seeking party status is December 7, 2009.
(The preceding information was added to this posting on September 24)

Please see the following notice from the Financial Services Tribunal regarding an upcoming hearing in 2010.
Financial Services Tribunal - Notice of Hearing (english) Financial Services Tribunal - Notice of Hearing (french)