CPP Investments Welcomes New Directors to its Board

NOT ONE STAKEHOLDER REPRESENTATIVE, NO UNION, CONSUMER, ENVIRONMENTAL, REPS 

LACK OF DIVERSITY, NO REAL ESG,  WHITE MALE BANKERS AND EXEUTIVES ETC.




NEWS PROVIDED BY

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Aug 06, 2021, 09:37 ET


TORONTO, Aug. 6, 2021 /CNW/ - Today, the Chairperson of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board ("CPP Investments") welcomed the appointments of two new directors to the organization's board of directors.

"We are pleased to welcome Dean Connor and Barry Perry to the Board of Directors," said Heather Munroe-Blum, Chairperson of CPP Investments. "We know they share our commitment to global best-in-class standards of organizational investment capabilities, corporate governance, and diversity, commensurate with our public purpose. Their respective unique credentials will be a valuable complement to our experienced Board."

Dean Connor has more than four decades of global experience in financial services and executive consulting.

Between 2011 and 2021, Connor served as President & CEO of Sun Life Financial Inc., a leading financial services company. Prior to this, he held senior roles with Sun Life, including Head of Canadian Operations and Chief Operating Officer. Connor previously had a 28-year tenure with a human resource consulting firm, where he rose to be President for the Americas, a position he held until 2006.

Connor is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries. He holds an Honours Business Administration from the Ivey School of Business at Western University. Connor currently serves as a Trustee for the University Health Network in Toronto and as a member of the Ivey Advisory Board. He was named Canada's Outstanding CEO of the Year for 2017, Ivey's Business Leader of the Year for 2018 and one of the Top CEOs in the World for 2019 by the Harvard Business Review.

Barry Perry has more than three decades of experience in the utilities, paper manufacturing and oil refining sectors.

Between 2015 and 2020, Perry held senior roles with Fortis Inc., most recently serving as President & CEO, as well as Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer from 2004 to 2014. Prior to joining Fortis Inc., he served as Vice President and Treasurer with a global forest products company and Corporate Controller with a large crude oil refinery.

Perry holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from Memorial University of Newfoundland and is a member of the Association of Chartered Professional Accountants of Newfoundland and Labrador. Perry currently serves on the Board of Capital Power. In 2019, he was named Atlantic Business Magazine CEO of the Year.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Names New Private Equity Head

Baystreet.ca
August 3, 2021·1 min read

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has named Suyi Kim, the pension fund’s top executive in Asia, to run its $100 billion private equity division.

Kim will lead a department that’s an active player in buyouts globally, both in direct investments and through funds run by Apollo Global Management, KKR and other private equity firms. The CPPIB’s private equity assets have grown more than fivefold in the past decade.

The appointment marks a key step in the reshaping of the team around Chief Executive Officer (CEO) John Graham, who was given the top job in February of this year when former CEO Mark Machin resigned after flying to United Arab Emirates to receive a COVID-19 vaccine in defiance of government guidelines to avoid international travel.

Kim is already one of the most powerful women at the $497.2-billion Canadian pension fund, alongside Deborah Orida, its global head of real assets.

Kim joined CPPIB in 2007 after working for the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Carlyle Group and opened the pension fund’s Hong Kong office in 2008. She was head of CPPIB’s private-equity operations in Asia for more than eight years.

CPPIB has been increasingly investing in private assets amid stretched valuations for stocks and bonds. It’s part of the consortium led by Fortress Investment Group that’s making an $8.8 billion bid for Wm Morrison Supermarkets.

The Canadian pension fund’s private-equity investments returned 36.6% in the fiscal year ended March 31, generating a net income of $34 billion, according to its annual report.

Kim, who starts in the role on September 15, replaces Shane Feeney, who accepted an executive role at Toronto-based Northleaf Capital Partners.

For further information: Frank Switzer, Managing Director, Investor Relations, T: +1 (416) 523-8039, fswitzer@cppib.com
Related Links

https://www.cppinvestments.com/

CPPIB welcomes former presidents, CEOs as new board directors


by Duffie Osental 11 Aug 2021


The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) has announced two new appointments to its board of directors.

Former Sun Life president and chief executive officer Dean Connor will join Barry Perry, the former president and CEO of utilities giant Fortis, on CPPB’s board.

Read more: Allianz, CPPIB invest in gas distribution service

CPPIB is a professional investment management organization that serves the “best interest of the more than 20 million contributors and beneficiaries of the Canada Pension Plan.”

In the insurance sector, the organization is known for its ownership of global specialty insurance and reinsurance firm Ascot Group and its investment in UK insurance provider BGL Group.

“We are pleased to welcome Dean Connor and Barry Perry to the board of directors,” said Heather Munroe-Blum, chairperson of CPPIB. “We know they share our commitment to global best-in-class standards of organizational investment capabilities, corporate governance, and diversity, commensurate with our public purpose. Their respective unique credentials will be a valuable complement to our experienced board.”

Connor has more than four decades of global experience in financial services and served as president and CEO of Sun Life Financial between 2011 to 2021. Prior to this, he held senior roles with Sun Life, including head of Canadian operations and chief operating officer.

Meanwhile, Perry has more than three decades of experience in the utilities, paper manufacturing, and oil refining sectors. Between 2015 and 2020, Perry held senior roles with Fortis, most recently serving as president and CEO, as well as vice president of finance and chief financial officer from 2004 to 2014.


CPP Investments adds former Mercer partner Dean Connor to board
10 August 2021 Consulting.ca

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board has appointed Dean Connor, formerly a partner at HR and wealth management consultancy Mercer, as a member of its board of directors. CPP Investments also announced the addition of Barry Perry, an energy sector veteran, as a board member.

Connor brings more than 40 years of experience in financial services and consulting. He spent the last 15 years at Sun Life, where he served as CEO from 2011 to 2021. Before that, he served as COO and head of Canadian operations at the insurance and wealth management giant.

Before joining Sun Life in 2006, Connor spent 28 years at Mercer, where latterly served as president for the Americas.

Connor is a trustee for the University Health Network in Toronto and a member of the Ivey School of Business advisory board. He was named one of the Top CEOs in the World for 2019 by Harvard Business Review.

Connor holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Western University and is a fellow of the Society of Actuaries and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries.

"We are pleased to welcome Dean Connor and Barry Perry to the Board of Directors," said Heather Munroe-Blum, chairperson of CPP Investments. "We know they share our commitment to global best-in-class standards of organizational investment capabilities, corporate governance, and diversity, commensurate with our public purpose.”

CPP Investments manages the $497.2 billion in the CPP fund. The Toronto-based organization is governed and managed independently of the CPP and at arm’s length of the Canadian government. The CPP Investments board is composed of 12 directors.


About CPP Investments
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments™) is a professional investment management organization that manages the Fund in the best interest of the more than 20 million contributors and beneficiaries of the Canada Pension Plan. In order to build diversified portfolios of assets, investments are made around the world in public equities, private equities, real estate, infrastructure and fixed income. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Hong Kong, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, New York City, San Francisco, São Paulo and Sydney, CPP Investments is governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan and at arm's length from governments. CPP Investments' 12-member Board of Directors was the first non-American firm to receive, in 2020, the US National Association of Corporate Directors NXT ® Award, which recognizes boards that use diversity and innovation to build long-term value. At March 31, 2021, the Fund totalled $497.2 billion. For more information, please visit www.cppinvestments.com or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.

CPPIB, Alberta Plan Invest Nearly $2 Billion in BAI Communications

The Canadian allocators are deepening commitments into the firm just as it’s expanding its 5G rollout capabilities in the US and UK


The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo) have made a $1.9 billion (C$2.4 billion) follow-up investment into telecommunications infrastructure firm BAI Communications, just as it’s expanding its 5G rollout capabilities.

On Monday, BAI disclosed that it has acquired Mobilitie, the largest privately held telecommunications infrastructure company in the US, which also supplies 5G connectivity. The purchase of the California-based firm will allow BAI to expand coast to coast in the US. BAI already operates several large wireless infrastructure projects in the country, notably in the New York City subway system.

BAI has also recently partnered with Transport for London (TfL), a government body in the greater London area in the UK. The London Underground is expected to get full phone coverage by 2024, thanks to the partnership with BAI. A fiber optic network to support the 4G and 5G connectivity throughout the city’s homes and businesses is also forthcoming.

“We continue to see strong potential in BAI Communications’ vision,” Scott Lawrence, managing director and head of infrastructure at CPPIB, said in a statement. “The acquisition of Mobilitie and establishment of a long-term partnership with TfL represent attractive opportunities for CPP Investments to increase its financial commitment to BAI and the digital infrastructure sector more broadly.”

The deepening commitment by CPPIB and AIMCo will allow the Australia-based BAI to expand its business globally. CPPIB has been investing in BAI for more than a decade, since which the firm has expanded to the US, Canada, Hong Kong, and the UK.

The allocator, with US$402.8 billion (C$497.2 billion) in assets, is a majority shareholder, with an 86% stake in the company. AIMCo, with US$104.5 billion (C$129 billion) in assets, is a minority stakeholder in the firm.

Interest in telecommunications infrastructure has grown with the global onset of 5G. The faster connectivity speed is expected to remake whole industries, including by supporting autonomous driving, smart homes, the storage and sharing of personal data, as well as the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI).

Spending in telecommunication services is expected to grow by about 1% this year, after the pandemic purportedly curtailed spending last year, according to data firm Statista.

Tags: 5G, AIMCo, Alberta Investment Management Corporation, asset, Asset Management, auction, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, CPPIB, wireless

By Sarah Min

BAI: The scandal continues. – Zen Mauritius

https://zenmauritius.wordpress.com/2018/01/25/bai-the-scandal-continues

BAI: The scandal continues. One of the most notorious financial scandals that have shaken Mauritius so far has been the BAI scam. In fact, it is an unprecedented financial scandal that the country witnessed and some financial experts have compared it to the Bernard Madoff investment scandal.

• Estimated Reading Time: 8 mins

BRAMER BANK & BAI DOWNFALL : A loudly castigated Ponzi ...

https://www.lemauricien.com/le-mauricien/bramer-bank-bai-downfall...

The Madoff investment scandal broke in 2008, when Bernard Madoff admitted that the wealth management arm of his business was an elaborate Ponzi scheme. Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison for running the biggest fraudulent scheme in U.S. history. Even now, only a few of his victims have since regained all of their losses.

• Estimated Reading Time: 5 mins

British American Investment Company (Mauritius) - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_American_Investment_Company_(Mauritius)

On April 3, 2015, BAIC's banking subsidiary, Bramer Banking Corporation, banking license was revoked by the Bank of Mauritius following an alleged US$693 million Ponzi scheme being run at the bank. This alleged ponzi scandal also affected BAIC's insurance subsidiary, BAI Co.

The Bramer/BAI saga: Ponzi or not? | lexpress.mu

https://www.lexpress.mu/idee/261218/bramerbai-saga-ponzi-or-not

The BAI Case. BAI is a more complex case. In so far as the insurance products are concerned, these have existed for quite some time and it is probably true that some agents might have tried to ...

AIMCo’s board makes recommendation after reviewing strategy that lost $2.1 billion

By: Staff
July 14, 2020




The Alberta Investment Management Corp. has completed its review of a volatility trading strategy, known as VOLTS, that resulted in $2.1 billion in losses in the wake of the coronavirus crash.

While the strategy would have been expected to generate some losses in periods of market volatility, the losses were far greater than expected, noted a report on the review.


As the crisis unfolded, the AIMCo’s board took steps to mitigate further losses by approving a plan to wind down and permanently close the strategy altogether. It also moved to review more than 50 other value-added strategies to determine whether any of them also had the potential for outsized losses. It found none of them had the potential to perform as poorly as the volatility strategy.

Read: AIMCo board undertaking third-party review of volatility trading strategy

The report outlined the history of the AIMCo’s volatility contracts strategy, which began in 2013 and was expanded in January 2018 to include capped/uncapped variance swaps. “These swaps trade a relatively fixed return during typical to moderately high volatility conditions for a significantly more steeply tilted and non-linear loss function during high to very high volatility conditions and carry the risk of greatly magnified losses from extreme volatility events, such as the COVID-related volatility experienced in March or that experienced in the October 1987 Black Monday event.”

While the volatility portfolio was shifting towards higher-risk capped/uncapped contracts, the overall portfolio was growing above its pre-2018 levels. As well, a legacy risk system was in place that worked reasonably well for situations with a linear relationship between portfolio investments and underlying economic and market factors. However, it didn’t work well with non-linear returns, like the volatility strategy. “The limitations of the risk system had previously been recognized and its replacement had been identified and was in the process of being implemented,” said the report.

By January 2020, the AIMCo’s risk management team had modelled the risk involved in the capped/uncapped strategy and called for more attention to be paid to the unlikely, but still possible, chance of extreme tail risk. The public equities team started taking action to reduce the fund’s overall exposure to the volatility strategy in early March, but by then it was too late. “Unprecedented and sustained volatility caused by the COVID-19 crisis made it impossible to unwind the positions without considerable loss.”

Read: AIMCo calls reports of losses on volatility strategy ‘dramatically’ overstated

In response to the situation, the board launched a comprehensive review of the volatility trading strategy. A new report by the AIMCo outlines recommendations and changes as a result of the review.

“Oversight of AIMCo’s investment strategies and risk management is the responsibility of the board of directors,” noted the report. “The losses incurred by our clients as a result of the VOLTS strategy are wholly unacceptable. The board is determined that the lessons from this experience will improve AIMCo’s management processes, prevent any similar occurrences and, most importantly, strengthen the risk culture of AIMCo.”

The board’s review concluded that the degree of challenge from the first and second lines of defence, namely the investment and risk management teams, regarding the strategy was unsatisfactory. And the “breadth and depth of risk governance controls, collaboration and risk culture” were also unsatisfactory. Further, analytics relating to the extreme tail risk inherent to the volatility strategy weren’t escalated to senior management and the board quickly enough.

As a result of the review, the board has adopted — and instructed management to implement — 10 recommended changes. First, that the AIMCo’s chief executive, investment and risk officers will personally lead and ensure the integration of the risk management and investment management staff, progressing toward a more collaborative and inclusive relationship. Second, the AIMCo will broaden its risk framework to deepen its description of risk appetite and risk tolerance, as well as launch a process of dialogue and debate across the organization on these topics.

Read: Is it time for pension plan sponsors to revisit risk tolerance?


Further, the AIMCo’s management will propose revised investment approval thresholds relating to any investment strategy or product using over-the-counter options, swaps or other derivatives, with the exception of cases in which derivatives are used only for hedging risks inherent in an investment strategy. As well, regular risk reporting to the board will become more granular by including exposure and risk measures against applicable thresholds and limits for all products and strategies.

Management will also develop an escalation and remediation process whereby risks that may lead to outsized or unexpected losses will be identified, regardless of the risk limit. And the risk management team will provide the approving authority, including an independent review of significant risks, whenever a product or strategy originates, is expanded or changed in terms of design or description.

At the outset, expansion or change in design or description of any strategy or product, the AIMCo will also clearly indicate any risk that an amount in excess of the initial investment could be lost. As well, if a change is made to the design or description of an investment, the original authority that approved the product or strategy will have to re-approve it as though it were completely new.

As for talent management, the board said its human resources and compensation committee will continue its redesign initiatives to push risk and investment managements’ further integration, including provisions for their compensation to be meaningfully linked to both teams’ degree of improved collaboration. The board also asked the chief executive officer to revise the AIMCo’s talent management strategy, organizational design and management succession plan.

Read: Mark Wiseman appointed board chair of AIMCo

In the review process, the AIMCo used its internal audit group and chief legal officer, in addition to third-party advice from Barbara Zvan, former chief risk officer at the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, and KPMG’s financial risk management team.

“No matter how carefully designed a set of prescriptive rules are, a so-minded individual or group can usually find a way to circumvent such rules,” said the report. “Consequentially, the most important changes emerging from the board’s review are actually not process changes at all, but rather changes to the culture in which the rules are to be embedded.

“With the oversight of the board, senior management will continue to move AIMCo’s culture toward a more collaborative environment among risk and investment professionals. These changes are not so easily effected and will require strong focus and leadership from the board and senior management, as well as continuous evaluation against clear, predetermined benchmarks.”

Read: AIMCo earns 10.6% return for 2019, underperforms benchmark

Alberta Finance resists pension plan representation on AIMCo board

NDP MLA's bill proposes adding members from four largest public sector pension plans to board
Michelle Bellefontaine · CBC News · Posted: Feb 26, 2021 5:02 PM MT | Last Updated: February 26

NDP MLA Shannon Phillips introduced Bill 208 last fall. (Émilie Vast/CBC)

Alberta finance officials are pushing back against a proposal in a private members' bill that would add members representing public sector plans to the board of the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo).

Shannon Phillips, the NDP MLA for Lethbridge-West, presented Bill 208, Alberta Investment Management Corporation Amendment Act, 2020, to the Standing Committee on Private Bills and Private Members' Public Bills on Friday.

The bill proposes adding four members representing the Alberta Teachers Retirement Fund, Special Forces Pension Plan , Local Authorities Pension Plan and Public Sector Pension Plan to AIMCo's 11-person board.

Since taking office nearly two years ago, the current United Conservative government has compelled the pension funds to use AIMCo as their investment manager.

MLAs have been inundated with phone calls, emails and letters about this issue, Phillips said.

Adding representation from the four largest public sector pensions to the AIMCo board would help ease those worries, she said.

Alberta public sector pension plan fund falls $3.4B in quarter, pointing to AIMCo losses

Alberta public pension manager AIMCo says $2.1B lost on volatility-based strategy

"Those funds then deserve a better window over governance at AIMCo and input into how they make investment decisions and ultimately how they serve their clients," she told the committee.

AIMCo is an investment firm owned by the provincial government. Management came under fire last year after losing $2.1 billion from a bet on market volatility.

Managers of the four pensions, which provide retirement income for teachers, provincial and local government workers, health care workers and municipal police officers have expressed concern that AIMCo would mishandle their funds.

Lowell Epp, assistant deputy minister for Treasury Risk and Management for the Alberta government, rejected Phillips' proposal in his presentation to the committee.

He says a 15-member board is unwieldy and would be less productive than a smaller board. He also suggested the proposed new members would represent the interests of their individual pension plans and not AIMCo as a whole.

"Representative boards frequently take a combative approach to decision making rather than a much more productive, consensus-based approach," he said.

Epp said each public sector pension retains control over their investment policies.

UCP MLAs, who make up the majority on the committee, echoed some of Epp's concerns.

Referendum question

The Alberta government has the power to issue investment directives to AIMCo. Bill 208 would remove that provision from existing legislation.

Concerns have been raised that the UCP government could order AIMCo to invest funds in oil and gas projects.

Phillips said the power has never been used, so it shouldn't be a problem to remove it.

"Removing that section of the act is a very simple solution to some of the concerns that have been raised by the public," she said.

The government is currently studying the feasibility of leaving the Canada Pension Plan and creating an Alberta Pension Plan in its place, a measure recommended by the Fair Deal Panel last year.

Bill 208 proposes asking Albertans in a referendum whether they want to switch to a provincial pension plan and if they want AIMCo to manage the fund.

Epp, in his presentation, said early evidence suggests a provincial pension plan could be beneficial, but that no decisions have been made on who would manage the funds.

MLAs on the committee agreed to hear stakeholder presentations on Phillips' bill before deciding whether to send it back to the legislative assembly for additional debate.

UCP-dominated committee kills bill that would have added representation to AIMCo board

Author of the article: Ashley Joannou
Publishing date: Mar 08, 2021 •

A lone skater enjoys the ice rink below the Alberta Legislature, in Edmonton Wednesday Jan. 27, 2021. We have two years to figure out the future of Alberta before separation is potentially put on a referendum question, says columnist Danielle Smith. PHOTO BY DAVID BLOOM /Postmedia
Article content

A bill that would have added representatives from four major Alberta pensions plans to the board of AIMCo is essentially dead after a government-dominated committee voted against it being debated in the legislature.

The standing committee on private bills and private members’ public bills heard from speakers in favour of NDP MLA Shannon Phillips’ bill Monday morning before voting 6-4 along party lines that the bill should not be given a full debate.

“Today’s decision is yet another example of the UCP ignoring the legitimate concerns of Albertans, and moving ahead with their ideological agenda,” Phillips said in a statement following the defeat.

Bill 208, the Alberta Investment and Management Corporation Amendment Act, would have bumped the size of AIMCo’s board from 11 to 15 by adding representatives from the Alberta Teachers Retirement Fund, Special Forces Pension Plan, Local Authorities Pension Plan and Public Sector Pension Plan.

Those four pensions are now legally required to be managed by AIMCo following legislation passed late last year. The government argued the consolidation would allow for better economy of scale with lower costs overall but unions have expressed distrust in AIMCo’s management and worries they were giving up control.

Greg Meeker, former chair of the Alberta Teachers Retirement Fund, argued Monday that without representation on the board, all teachers could do if they were upset by an AIMCo decision was write a “strongly worded letter.”

“I would suggest that we need representation to go beyond that level, beyond the strongly worded letter level,” he said,

UCP MLA Shane Getson said he was worried adding extra seats would potentially give undue influence to some by having a client able to influence their own specific pension at the board level.

Meeker said adding four seats to AIMCo’s board would not provide a particular advantage.

“That’s not an ability to issue edicts to AIMCo. That’s not the ability to issue an order to the investment staff to prioritize the ATRF investments,” he said.

Brad Readman, the president of Alberta Fire Fighters Association said his members’ pensions are part of the LAPP, which is currently handled by AIMCo, but the current legislation takes away the option to ever leave.

He said while the current members’ pensions won’t change there is a responsibility to protect future members and that Phillips’ bill should be debated.

“Let’s make sure the long-term pension plans and retirement security of firefighters, first responders, teachers, are protected,” he said.

Government officials have said public sector pension boards would continue to control their own investment strategies even under AIMCo’s management though the Alberta Teachers Association has promised to sue over a ministerial order they say takes away their control.

Bill 208 would have also removed a provision in the existing law that allows the government to give AIMCo investment directives.

The bill would have also required a referendum if Alberta launched a provincial pension plan and AIMCo was chosen to manage that money.

Members on both sides of the aisle acknowledged hearing concerns from their constituents about how pensions are managed under the government’s new rules. UCP MLA Whitney Issik blamed this on a “hyperbolic misinformation campaign” and pointed out that the LAPP, managed by AIMCo, is ranked among the top plans in Canada.

NDP members argued that the level of concern was all the more reason to give the issue a full debate.

“It needs to have a proper debate where we can hear from the minister of finance, where we hear from other ministers where we can hear from the opposition, and government, and independent MLAs,” said NDP MLA Thomas Dang.

CUPE Files Legal Challenge to OMERS' Punitive Treatment of Paramedics

Author of the article:

Business Wire

Publishing date:

Aug 11, 2021  •  

Article content

TORONTO — Today, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) filed a legal challenge with the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) about OMERS’ treatment of paramedic members accessing earlier retirement options.

“Paramedics have been demanding that OMERS allow them fair access to earlier retirement options for over a decade,” said Fred Hahn, President of CUPE Ontario, about the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System. “Now OMERS is saying working paramedics can transition to earlier retirement options only at the risk of deep cuts to their pensions. This is completely unacceptable, and these front-line workers simply deserve better.”

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Paramedics are recognized in federal law as a Public Safety Occupation, a designation that according to the Canada Revenue Agency acknowledges their working conditions as situations “where the limitations associated with ageing are common and have the potential to significantly endanger the safety of the general public.” Paramedics are eligible for earlier retirement options under federal law if their pension plan allows it.

“Access to earlier retirement is a health and safety issue for paramedics on the front lines and for the people we serve in the community,” said Peter Joseph, an active paramedic and chair of CUPE’s Ambulance Committee of Ontario. “Our work as paramedics takes an enormous physical and mental toll, and OMERS is refusing to recognize that reality.”

“Ontario pension law dictates that the value of a worker’s accrued defined pension benefit can’t be reduced but we believe that OMERS is doing just that with its rules for paramedic members’ transition to earlier retirement options,” said Hahn. “It’s our hope that this challenge will reverse OMERS rules that shortchange paramedics and ensure they have access to what they’re entitled to: earlier retirement options and a decent retirement.”

CUPE has raised these concerns with OMERS for months and has attempted to work with the pension fund on a solution.

CUPE represents more than 5,000 paramedics across the province. CUPE Ontario is the largest sponsor of OMERS, representing 125,000 plan members.

Background information

• In OMERS, there are Normal Retirement Age 65 (NRA 65) members and Normal Retirement Age 60 (NRA 60) members. Normal Retirement Age (NRA) refers to the age you can receive an unreduced pension. There are different retirement rules for NRA 65 and NRA 60 members. NRA 65 members can retire with an unreduced pension at the earliest of age 65, or 30 years of service, or “90 factor”. The earliest retirement age for a NRA 65 member is age 55. NRA 60 members can retire with an unreduced pension at the earliest of age 60, or 30 years of service, or “85 factor”. The earliest retirement age for a NRA 60 member is age 50.
• OMERS prohibited unions representing paramedics from negotiating earlier retirement options with employers from 2005 to 2020. Meanwhile, police and firefighters in the plan already had earlier retirement options for many decades. OMERS finally extended this right to paramedic members starting January 1, 2021. However, OMERS’ rules for transitioning paramedic members from NRA 65 to NRA 60 put members at risk of a reduced pension value.
• FSRA is the independent pension regulator in Ontario whose mandate includes protecting pension benefits and administering pension law.
• The intention of the Public Safety Occupation designation is described by the Canada Revenue Agency in the CRA External Technical Interpretation 2002-0119025.

ZN:gb/cope491

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210811005877/en/

CUPE report calls for third-party review, alleges underperformance by pension fund manager OMERS

DAVID MILSTEADI

GLOBE AND MAIL 

NSTITUTIONAL INVESTMENT REPORTER
PUBLISHED MAY 19, 2021

The union for Ontario public sector employees has renewed calls for an outside review of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, saying the pension’s 2020 loss is part of a long-term pattern of underperformance.

In response, OMERS said Wednesday that an independent review “is not warranted.”

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario said that 2020 was “not just one tough year” for OMERS, which posted a negative 2.7-per-cent return in 2020. The union, which initially spoke out when OMERS released that result in February, issued a report Wednesday that suggests OMERS has underperformed its own internal benchmarks, as well as other large Canadian pension plans, for the past decade or more.

CUPE says OMERS’s 10-year return of 6.7 per cent is lower than seven other major Canadian pensions, whose returns over the period ranged from 8.5 per cent to 11.2 per cent. It’s also lower than the 10-year internal benchmark of 7.3 per cent. OMERS does not disclose the 10-year benchmark figure in its annual reports, which makes it different from the other plans, CUPE says. CUPE said OMERS provided the figure to the union.

The long-term underperformance can also be seen in the 10 years ended in 2019, indicating the issue is not solely the result of OMERS’s performance during the pandemic, according to CUPE.

CUPE has raised questions of OMERS management before, including a lengthy critique of its expenses after it announced its 2018 results. Fred Hahn, President of CUPE Ontario, said the union has engaged with OMERS management and “we kept being told everything would be fine ... we weren’t satisfied with that.”

Mr. Hahn and other CUPE members who appeared at a Wednesday press conference questioned whether benefits would ultimately be endangered.

“We care about this plan – we want to fix whatever’s going on, to provide our members with certainty,” said Yolanda McClean of CUPE’s Toronto Education Worker/Local 4400.

In a statement, George Cooke, the chair of the board of directors of OMERS Administration Corp., said the board, which is nominated by the employer and employee sponsors of the plan, “continually and thoroughly reviews investment performance, independent of management, utilizing external experts where appropriate.”

“Following the 2020 results specifically, we undertook a thoughtful look at our investment strategy and past decisions with an open mind,” Mr. Cooke said in the statement. “We are confident in our strong new leadership team and have concluded that our current investment strategy is appropriate. An additional third-party independent review is not warranted.”

CUPE Ontario represents 125,000 of the pension’s 289,000 active members. Two CUPE researchers authored the report, which was reviewed by PBI Actuarial Consultants of Vancouver. “Overall, we believe the analysis is sufficient to conclude that OMERS investment performance in 2020 and longer term is significantly lower than other comparable plans,” wrote Bradley Hough of PBI.

In 2020, OMERS’s real estate investments posted an 11.4-per-cent loss, while the value of its private equity portfolio declined by 8.4 per cent. Its performance also suffered from being heavily invested in dividend-paying oil and gas and financial-services stocks and underweight in technology companies. The fund’s benchmark was a gain of 6.9 per cent, so it underperformed by 9.6 percentage points, the biggest margin of the past decade, according to CUPE.

"HUMOUR IS SUBVERSIVE" ORWELL

The Facebook group that began Cuba’s wave of protests

Though “City of Humor” was first created as a social space, it became a forum to share criticism and to mobilize.

People shout slogans during a demonstration in Havana on July 11, 2021.

Alexandre Meneghini / Reuters file

Aug. 10, 2021
By Reuters

HAVANA — “Tired of having no electricity?” read a post in a Facebook group for residents of the small Cuban town of San Antonio de los Banos on July 10. “Fed up of having to listen to the impudence of a government that doesn’t care about you?”

“It’s time to go out and to make demands. Don’t criticize at home: let’s make them listen to us”.

The next day, thousands took to the street in San Antonio, a town of some 50,000 people, about 20 miles southwest of Havana, kicking off a rare wave of protests throughout the Communist-run country.

Unrest has been growing across Latin America and the Caribbean as unease spreads over Covid-19 lockdowns and rising poverty. But in Cuba authorities have traditionally tightly controlled public spaces, saying unity is key to resisting coup attempts by old Cold War foe the United States.

The protests, Cuba’s most widespread since Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution, appeared largely spontaneous as Cubans vented frustrations over long lines for food, power outages, medicine shortages as well as curbs on civil freedoms.

Yet an investigation by non-state Cuban outlet El Estornudo — cited by state television and confirmed by Reuters — recently showed that the first protest was convened online by a San Antonio community forum for local people and those who had emigrated.

The Facebook group “City of Humor” — the nickname for San Antonio which hosts a biannual humor festival — was first created in 2017 as a social space, according to one of its three administrators, Miami-based Alexander Perez.

Over time, people also started expressing their gripes, said Perez, 44, a pastor of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. That prompted him and the other administrators Danilo Roque and Lazaro Gonzalez to try to “educate them” about their civil rights and claiming them through peaceful protest.

Neither Roque nor Gonzalez, whom Perez described as two younger men who lived in San Antonio operating under the pseudonyms to avoid reprisals, responded to request for comment.

The backstory shows how the recent expansion of web access in Cuba has been a gamechanger in fostering forums on social media to share criticism and to mobilize.

It also shows how strengthening relations with the Cuban diaspora — thanks to the internet and greater freedom of movement — is influencing politics on the island at a grassroots level.

Virtual communities like “The City of Humor” exist nationwide and emigres are exhorting local people on them to keep on protesting and expressing solidarity, with some even urging violence.

All this poses a challenge to the government which has allowed relatively unfettered access to the internet, unlike China, which blocks many Western social media apps.

Cuba has blamed the protests on online meddling by counter-revolutionaries backed by the United States, which has for decades openly sought to force reform on it through sanctions and financing for democracy programs.

The administrators of the “City of Humor” did not receive any U.S. funding nor had they coordinated protests with other towns, Perez said.

Cuba, where the state has a monopoly on telecommunications, has suffered intermittent disruptions in access to internet and social media since July 11, in an apparent bid to prevent further unrest.

Protests petered out within a couple of days amid those outages, a large deployment of security forces and a wave of detentions.
Teaching civil rights

Posts in “The City of Humor” — which jumped from around 4,000 to nearly 10,000 members after the July 11 protest — show users reminiscing, selling items, promoting businesses and complaining about local issues like water supply.

Perez said the administrators decided three years ago to also attempt to rally the community to demonstrate over shared gripes, with little success.

Last month they felt the time was ripe to try again.

The pandemic and tighter U.S. sanctions had exacerbated Cuba’s economic woes, plunging it into its deepest crisis since the fall of the Soviet Union. And the Covid-19 surge was pushing its already creaking healthcare infrastructure to the brink.

“We decided this was the moment,” said Perez.

The announcement of the protest at the church park at 11 a.m. spread by word-of-mouth and messenging applications, according to three San Antonio residents who requested anonymity.

But Perez said he had such low expectations that anyone would show up that he went to the beach that day. So he was stunned to get a call to say the small early turnout had snowballed.

“We certainly never imagined that San Antonio would be the spark that lit the flame causing Cuba to take to the streets three hours later,” he said.

Videos on social media showed San Antonio protesters shouting anti-government slogans like “freedom” and “we are not afraid”.

“My town came out in force because it just can’t take any more,” said one resident, requesting anonymity.

Within hours, President Miguel Diaz-Canel himself showed up, in a bid — he said later in a televised address to the nation — to show “the streets belong to revolutionaries”.

Some videos on social media showed him being heckled but the unrest there and elsewhere soon dwindled amid a crackdown.

Perez said a heavy security presence in San Antonio meant Cubans would have to bide their time until another protest.

But it was noteworthy, he said, that the government already enacted reforms like lifting customs restrictions for travelers bringing in medicine and food in response to the protests.

“If we manage to achieve this in a few hours of protest” he wondered, “what happens if we spend three days in the streets?”

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Google may cut pay of staff who work from home

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Google employees in the US who opt to work from home permanently may get a pay cut.

The technology giant has developed a pay calculator that lets employees see the effects of working remotely or moving offices.

Some remote employees, especially those with a long commute, could have their pay cut without changing address.

Google has no plans at this time to implement the policy in the UK.

Employees in many businesses have proved that working from home permanently is viable during the Covid pandemic.

Many companies are looking ahead to how employees will work as the pandemic recedes, even as the US continues to battle the Delta variant of the disease.

• Covid: Should I be working from home or going back to the office?
• Working from home job adverts rise

Silicon Valley firms, some of which are keen to get employees back to their desks, are experimenting with employee pay structures.

Big tech companies including Microsoft, Facebook, and Twitter have offered less pay for employees based in locations where it is more inexpensive to live.

But smaller firms such as Reddit and Zillow have said they will pay the same no matter where employees are based, saying that this improves diversity.

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A Google spokesperson said: "Our compensation packages have always been determined by location, and we always pay at the top of the local market based on where an employee works from.

"Our new Work Location Tool was developed to help employees make informed decisions about which city or state they work from and any impact on compensation if they choose to relocate or work remotely."

Alarm

One Google employee, who works in Seattle but has a two-hour commute, complained to Reuters of being faced with a 10% pay cut for choosing to work from home full-time.

"It's as high a pay cut as I got for my most recent promotion," the employee said. "I didn't do all that hard work to get promoted to then take a pay cut."

Jake Rosenfeld, a sociology professor at Washington University in St. Louis, said Google's move raises alarms about who will feel the impact most acutely, including families.

"What's clear is that Google doesn't have to do this," Prof Rosenfeld said. "Google has paid these workers at 100% of their prior wage, by definition. So it's not like they can't afford to pay their workers who choose to work remotely the same that they are used to receiving."

A Google employee in Stamford, Connecticut, which is an hour away from New York by train, would be paid 15% less working remotely, while there were 5% and 10% differences in the Seattle, Boston and San Francisco areas.

Google will not change employees' pay if they work fully remotely from the same city.

Contract questions

In the UK, it's a fundamental part of employment law that employers cannot alter aspects of contracts such as rates of pay without the consent of employees, or without terminating those contracts and renegotiating them, said Emma Bartlett, a partner at employment lawyers CM Murray.

From an employee perspective, it would be demoralising to be paid less for doing the same job, she said, and from a business perspective, it would have the potential to create two tiers of employment, with some employees expected to be in the office, and some not.

If people stayed home working for childcare reasons, and women continue to take the main responsibility for childcare, then this could have the effect of widening the gender pay gap, she said.

Workers may be treated differently in other respects, she added, and organisations would have to work hard to make sure employees were not treated differently in terms of training, promotion, and access to clients.

Hybrid experiments

Some businesses, such as US technology giant Cisco, have put in place a hybrid working plan that has no mandates about how often employees go into the office.

Cisco expects that less than a quarter of its workforce will want to be in an office for three or more days a week.

But other firms, such as Goldman Sachs, want workers to return to offices.

The investment bank's boss, David Solomon, said in February that working from home was "an aberration" rather than "the new normal".

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), which represents human resource professionals in the UK, said it was always "the safest option" for firms to seek express written agreement from employees before changing the level of their pay.

In its guidance to employers, it says that imposing a pay cut is a "high-risk" approach, since workers can bring claims for breach of contract or even constructive unfair dismissal.

Rachel Suff, senior employment relations adviser at the CIPD, said: "Rather than making sweeping decisions on issues like pay and how, where and when people work, businesses should aim to balance individual needs with the needs of the organisation.

"It would be quite near-sighted for employers to think about adjusting pay at this early point in hybrid working, given there are so many things to still be ironed out and many people are still yet to return to a physical workspace.

"Given the tight labour market, businesses also need to stay attractive and cutting pay could prove to be a false economy if it turns talent away."