April 24, 2023
Life’s brighter under the sun
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Watch the webinar recording below from the live event on April 5, 2023.
The event focused on helping defined benefit (DB) plan sponsors achieve success on their de-risking journey.
Two DB plan sponsors, West Fraser and Montreal Port Authority (with consultant Normandin Beaudry) shared their de-risking journeys including:
- Evaluating group annuities as a solution for their DB pension challenges
- Their experience coming to market to transact multiple times
- The benefits and challenges of transacting inflation-linked annuities
Our partners from SLC Management shared new liability driven investing (LDI) strategies and use case studies to show how plan sponsors are using them effectively.
What plan sponsors need to know
Brent Simmons, SVP & Head of DB Solutions, shares his top five takeaways from the Focus 2023 webinar event.
West Fraser
Annuitizing DB plans since 2017
With several DB pension plans and complex governance, West Fraser had a desire to focus more on their core business. Annuities were identified as the right solution for their well-funded plans. Since 2017, West Fraser has annuitized over $800M worth of pension liabilities through five transactions. This fireside chat will touch on how West Fraser successfully annuitized different plans, and what best practices plan sponsors should consider for their transactions.
SLC Management
The new LDI - flexible, diversified, and innovative
Plan sponsors on a journey to a future annuity purchase are often trying to solve two problems - keeping their funded status stable and targeting enhanced returns, within their risk budget.
The answers can lie in liability-driven investing (LDI). LDI is investing with your plan’s liabilities in mind. It’s more than just adjusting public bond investments. The new LDI gives investors choice and flexibility to manage risk and target enhanced returns, with a wider range of investment options. With funded statuses near decade highs, and bond yields approaching levels expected of return-seeking assets, many sponsors are reconsidering LDI.
Join Heather Wolfe from SLC Management as she shares two case studies showing how plans are effectively using new LDI strategies.
Montreal Port Authority
De-risking inflation-linked liabilities
Inflation risk posed unique challenges for the pension plan of this autonomous federal agency. Montreal Port Authority (MPA) worked with their consultant, Normandin Beaudry, to assess market solutions and competitiveness for 100% Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation-linked annuities. This session will explore insights in transacting inflation-linked annuities as part of the MPA risk management process.