Political risk in the form of “pension reform” is "the No. 1 risk" that the Toronto-based C$8.6 billion ($6.7 billion) Colleges of Applied Arts & Technology Pension Plan faces, said Derek W. Dobson, CEO and plan manager.
At a panel discussing the global pursuit of retirement adequacy through investing at Pensions & Investments' Global Future of Retirement Conference in Washington on Monday, Mr. Dobson told conference attendees that pension plans are the hot topic for politicians, particularly in Canada.
This means it's important that politicians don't impose reforms that could actually hurt the plan, such as closing or freezing a plan.
"Even well-intentioned politicians can do the wrong thing," said Mr. Dobson.
He noted roughly 25% of his time is now spent working with politicians and educating them on how the CAAT pension plan works and what it needs.
Mr. Dobson described Canada's CAAT multiemployer pension plan as one that acts like a defined benefit plan for participants and like a defined contribution plan for employers.
