This is your daily pension announcement: It is mailbag day for The Pension War Room™️. Question from Squiggy: "Does the GOA (Travis) own the funds in the pension plans?" Emphatic HELL NO! I know Travis has said that in the Leg at different times. #AbLeg#handsoffmypension
Remember with @joececiyyc: legislation was passed to (in his words) "get the politics out of pensions". While Travis has said it is his job to "maximize the funds" and to ensure we have a "made in Alberta portfolio". Putting the politics right back into pensions. #ABLeg
Getting back to the question of ownership of funds held in trust, we go to the Teachers' Pension Plan Act 17(3) which says in part: (3) The Board shall...
(b) manage those assets for the sole benefit of the persons entitled to the respective benefits. #ABLeg
"Sole benefit" is crystal clear. But, if you work for @Alberta_Finance keep reading section 18(2)a: (2) The assets of
(a) the post‑1992 fund belong beneficially to the persons entitled to the post‑1992 benefits,...
and the Crown has no claim to those assets.
ATRF assets have now been completely transferred to @aimcoinvests. Remember that the most recent 10-year value add for ATRF was 0.70%, BCIMC 1.1%, and AIMCO 0%. Facts never mattered here. Apparently. #ABLeg#handsoffmypension#milburned
Travis nor Kevin have defined a "made in Alberta" portfolio might consist of. May I be so bold as to remind you that ATRF portfolios were all made in Alberta? #ABLeg#handsoffmypension
This is to say, again, that the GOA has considerable power over AIMCO when it should not. The power to appoint and remove directors should lie with AIMCO's clients not with Bumbles. #ABLeg#handsoffmypension
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The Pension War Room™️ again brings you this conundrum. Reasons for @NateHornerAB removing the AIMCO Board keep changing! Barb here, definitely has insider access. Read it
To recap: the original reason for destroying @aimcoinvests was cost plus investment performance. We know know that wasn't true in any logical world.
Barb here floats reason #2: that CEO @ewsiddall was a "liberal" or a "Laurentian Elite". #AbLeg
The Stapler (keep in mind he is an idiot) floats reason #3 in the paper today: That the Board and CEO had the audacity to drag the organization into this century with ESG and DEI policies. The former as part of its legal fiduciary duty...
The Pension War Room™️needs you to read this piece from the G &M. No, I can't link to it.
You may remember Mr. Willis from the original AIMCO conundrum. He is correct in this case, the pension plans bear the consequences of AIMCOs bad decisions. #AbLeg
To quote Mr. Willis:
"The day after Mr. Horner marched AIMCo executives out the door, LAPP put out a press release to say that “your pension remains safe and secure.” LAPP executives declined further comment... #AbLeg
...At best, the pension plan’s “safe and secure” line is wishful thinking, as no one knows where AIMCo’s investment performance is headed." #AbLeg
We are still awaiting the other shoe to drop. #AbLeg
The Pension War Room™️ reviews this AIMCO quote from Bloomberg: "Employees have already told acquaintances they want new jobs, anticipating the province will begin treating the pension manager like a state agency and slash their pay." #Ableg
Yeah, so this is the hidden cost of @NateHornerAB's actions. A ton of employees with very specific skill sets have already sent their resumes out. This are employees who were very difficult to recruit to start with. #AbLeg
Most of the highly specialized skill sets @aimcoinvests don't grow in AB. They are only produced in major financial centers like Toronto, adding another level of complexity.
This is your daily pension announcement! The Pension War Room™️ would note Jim-Bob Dinning is still a stan for the APP. He was at the Calgary Golf and Country Club while the rest of the UCP were lathering up in Red Deer. #AbLeg
It appears that his message has not changed. Lifeworks/Telus report=The Word of God. Yeah, even the bits he reproduced for handouts at the events had all sorts of warnings from the actuary about "best estimates". #AbLeg
The crowd, though tough to tell from appearances, looked like they **WILL NOT** be depending on CPP/APP for their retirement income. Unlike millions of Canadians who WILL be depending on it. #AbLeg
This is your daily pension announcement! Smith recruiting private schools to stack the leadership vote shows a level of desperation. She didn't invent this strategy (@jkenney did), but she needs it. #AbLeg
It seems two groups are organizing against her: one group thinks she had the power to stop the prosecution of domestic terrorists. The other is angry she reneged on a promise to cut taxes.
A certain substantial, but as yet unquantified, portion of her party is just angry all the time about everything. The same people that gave Ralph the boot after all he did for 'berta.
This is your daily pension announcement. The Pension War Room™️ is mildly piqued at the continued operation of @aimcoinvests without a Board Chair. Speculation centers around the UCP trying to appoint a politician and failing (twice) on conflict of interest grounds. #AbLeg
It is well past time that I remind you if you have a DB pension plan the money in that plan IS NOT your employers. It is held, in trust, and cared for by a trustee. That trustee has the fiduciary responsibility to invest wisely and to pay out benefits to you when the time comes.
It's important for me to hammer home this concept in law as we seem to have lots of MLAs and senior civil servants confused about this. Various FOIP requests have provided ample examples of teachers' pensions being referred to as a GOA "program". They are not. #Ableg