Elizabeth Woodman

External Author

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Staff working papers

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Bank publications

Bank of Canada Review articles

June 18, 2005

Recent Trends in Canadian Defined-Benefit Pension Sector Investment and Risk Management

Bank of Canada Review - Summer 2005 Eric Tuer, Elizabeth Woodman
Defined-benefit (DB) pension plans account for the majority of employer pension fund assets. In recent years, a number of DB plans have become underfunded, in sharp contrast to the 1990s, when many plans had large actuarial surpluses. The deterioration in the financial health of DB plans has underscored various longer-term structural issues that could make it increasingly difficult for plan sponsors to manage the financial risks of these plans. Tuer and Woodman examine how funding deficits, a greater focus on plan liabilities, a low yield environment, and changing investment beliefs are influencing investment decisions in the Canadian DB pension sector. They review the funding of DB plans, changing views on the equity-risk premium, and the shift towards liability-centred approaches to investment and how these developments are affecting pension sector investment. They also consider additional influences on the pension sector, including the limited supply of long-term bonds, the elimination of the foreign-property rule, and the movement towards fair-value accounting and a financial-economics approach to actuarial valuation, as well as their implications for financial markets.
Content Type(s): Publications, Bank of Canada Review articles Topic(s): Financial institutions, Recent economic and financial developments

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Financial System Review articles

June 7, 2018

Establishing a Resolution Regime for Canada’s Financial Market Infrastructures

Financial System Review - June 2018 Elizabeth Woodman, Lucia Chung, Nikil Chande
This report highlights how an effective resolution regime promotes financial stability. It does this by ensuring that financial market infrastructures (FMIs) would be able to continue to provide their critical functions during a period of stress when an FMI’s own recovery measures were failing. The report explains the Bank of Canada’s new role as the resolution authority for FMIs, which will further bolster financial system resilience.
Content Type(s): Publications, Financial System Review articles Topic(s): Financial institutions, Financial markets, Financial stability, Financial system regulation and policies, Payment clearing and settlement systems JEL Code(s): G, G1, G10, G19, G2, G20, G28, G29

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