Along with reflecting on the past year’s successes and challenges, value for money and managing risks in the Pensions Fund topped the agenda.
An interactive information session for CSS delegates was held the evening prior to the Annual Meeting. Martin McInnis, the Plan’s Executive Director, and Brent Godson, the Plan’s Director of Investments and Financial Management, delivered presentations about managing longevity risk in the Pensions Fund, how the Plan measures value delivered, and initiatives underway to assist members in maximizing the value they derive from the Plan.
Longevity risk is the risk to which the Plan could be exposed to as a result of higher than expected payout ratios that are due to pensioners living longer, on average, than expected and therefore receiving pension payments for longer than expected. Delegates were updated on the initiatives that the CSS Board and management have undertaken to significantly reduce our exposure to this risk. The ultimate objective of reducing this risk exposure is to protect the long-term sustainability of the Pensions Fund, which is a popular retirement income choice amongst our members.
The value for money presentation and table-top discussions provided an opportunity for delegates and CSS management to explore and discuss how the Plan creates value for members, comparisons to some of our Canadian defined contribution pension plan peers (CSS compares very well to our peers), as well as current opportunities and challenges that exist in assisting members in maximizing the value they derive from our Plan. Given CSS’ success over the past 80 years in creating value for members, this session was an opportunity to consider what CSS should be doing to position itself to continue to create value for members over the years to come.