Leo Kolivakis's blog

There is a consensus emerging on Canadian pension reform - one that might have implications for US and global pension funds.

Some thoughts on fixing our ailing pension system. Please provide me with your comments on this important topic.

Finally, some good news on the pension front. The Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan (HOOPP) recorded a 15% rate-of-return for the year ending Dec. 31, 2009. Not only has the plan hit a record high of C$31.1-billion of assets-under-management, but it is now 102% funded, which means its 250,000 employees and retirees can breath a sigh of relief that they won’t see any benefit cuts or contribution increases for the foreseeable future. Larger public pension funds should take notice. HOOPP is running HOOPPs around the competition.

Critics accuse the Canadian government of denying pension woes, and stalling on pension reform. But there are vested interests among all Canadian MPs to maintain the status quo as they line up to hit their pension jackpot.

From European debt wars to another war that's part of my personal struggle. On Saturday, CTV's W5 followed up on a controversial MS treatment that is turning the MS community upside down. Frustrated MS patients aren't waiting for proof that it works. If you know someone who suffers from this debilitating disease, please take the time to read this comment carefully and pass the information along. I also discuss some interesting findings on vitamin D that you should all be made aware of.

According to Michael Hudson, government debt in Greece is just the first in a series of European debt bombs that are set to explode. Read his excellent comment and listen to his interview On The Edge with Max Keiser where he says the latest health care reform was a giveaway to private health insurers and governments around the world are committing economic suicide by adopting IMF austerity measures while they pile on more debt.

Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz talks with Bloomberg's Francine Lacqua about Greece's debt problem and China's currency. Stiglitz said an International Monetary Fund rescue of Greece would be a "sad" chapter in the history of the European Union.

The OECD says that Canada's economic growth will outpace those of other G7 countries by a wide margin in the first half of the year. Really? What are they smoking? And Goldman and Pimco are the latest big funds to say that it's going to get a lot worse for Greece. If I were a pension fund manager, I'd ignore these dire predictions, and snap up as many Greek bonds yielding 7% as possible.

According to a report by the Government Accountability Office, GM will need to add $12.3 billion into its pension fund by 2014. Underfunded pensions are a widespread problem, not just for the private sector. The New York Times reports, an independent report of California's three big pension funds found a shortfall of more than half a trillion dollars. This could lead to a major political problems, especially when and if states raise taxes to bridge the gap. Will pension gaps spur a tax revolt?

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, which manages the assets of one of Canada's biggest pension funds, said it had a strong year in 2009, with the value of its assets rising to C$96.4 billion (US$96.3 billion), and a return of 13%—more than four percentage points over its benchmarked return. Unfortunately, plummeting interest rates made it harder to meet its future obligations, sending unfunded liabilities soaring to C$17.1 billion—almost seven times what it had been the year before.

More self-serving drivel on how Canadian public pension funds are leading the world by "internalizing" asset management. Please take the time to read this comment carefully.

The nation’s 10 largest public pension funds have paid private equity firms more than $17 billion in fees since 2000, according to a new analysis conducted for The New York Times, as the funds flocked to these so-called alternative investments in hopes of reaping market-beating returns. Unfortunately, most are still waiting for the big payoff - and shockingly, some are even doubling down on these investments.

Legislation to ban commissions paid to intermediaries for steering California's public pension money to investment houses has spurred a lobbying war led by Wall Street's powerful Blackstone Group, allied with such major banking firms as Wells Fargo & Co. Who will come out ahead?

The problems of aging and pensions were already challenging enough. Current attempts to buy short-term expansion with artificially low interest rates can only make the long-term problems greater than ever. Recent Treasury-bond auctions have seen fairly weak demand, forcing yields higher. Is this a sign of things to come?

California, New York and other states are showing many of the same signs of debt overload that recently took Greece to the brink — budgets that will not balance, accounting that masks debt, the use of derivatives to plug holes, and armies of retired public workers who are counting on benefits that are proving harder and harder to pay. Goldman Sachs, in a research report last week, acknowledged the pension issue but concluded the states were very unlikely to default on their debt and noted the states had 30 years to close pension shortfalls. Others, including me, disagree with Goldman's benign assessment, fearing Greek-style debt woes are already upon us.