Canada Post Pension Plan 2019 year-end results
A message from Wayne Cheeseman, Chief Financial Officer
In 2019, the defined benefit (DB) component investments generated a return of 14.7% as a result of positive markets and the Plan’s evolving investment strategy. And while the DB component’s return on investments in 2019, at 14.7%, was slightly below the industry benchmark of 15.8%, the Plan’s return was in the top 25% of large plans in Canada with more than $1 billion in assets.
The current estimate of the Plan’s financial position as at December 31, 2019 is a going-concern surplus of $3.8 billion and a solvency deficit to be funded of $5.6 billion.1 By actively managing our portfolio, we have added value above the benchmark return by $2,257 million over the last 10 years.
Assets in the defined contribution (DC) component of the Plan grew from $46.4 million to $71 million, with $8.9 million of this growth coming from investment returns. Refer to your personalized DC statement to learn about your personal rate of return.
The 2019 Report to Members is now available under Publications. It provides you with information about the Plan’s performance, investments and services to members, as well as an update on the funded status of the Plan.
Final year-end results for the Plan will be filed with the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) and the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), our pension regulators, by the end of June.
1. The solvency deficit when using market value of Plan assets is estimated at $4.9 billion.