CPPIB using its shareholder votes to push for more women on corporate boards: CEO + MORE Nov 11th

Q: My husband worked for a municipality and when he left we transferred the money into a LIRA. I’ve realized that the MER (2.9%) and DSC (5.5%) are high and we are upset and want to consider moving the funds.
My husband is currently employed in another public sector that has a great pension plan (DB) and we are wondering if we can/should move the funds to that or perhaps move it elsewhere if it’s even possible?!
—Jen
A: When you leave an employer and decide to transfer your pension into a locked-in retirement account (LIRA), you’re taking a risk. The idea is to invest the money to provide a higher retirement income with the eventual withdrawals than the pension payments may have otherwise been.
In order for the strategy to pay off, you need decent investment returns. As you have noted, Jen, it’s very difficult, if not impossible, to earn decent returns paying a 3% management expense ratio (MER) on a retail mutual fund. This is particularly true in this low return, low-interest rate environment…

Q: I am turning 71 this year and I will be converting my RRSP to a RRIF. I understand I have an option to withdraw a lesser amount since my wife is six years younger. How do I calculate what percentage I will need to withdraw from my RRIF at age 72 considering my wife’s age—she will be 66.
—Bruce
A: Minimizing the mandatory portion of the RRIF withdrawal is a good strategy to maximize income flexibility. Bruce can choose the age 66 (spouse’s age) minimum withdrawal schedule making him effectively six years younger for the purpose of calculating the minimum withdrawal amount. Bruce must convert his RRSP to a RRIF by the end of the year he turns age 71 which is 2017.
Bruce’s age at the beginning of the year becomes his age for the entire year for withdrawal purposes so he is considered to be age 71 in 2018 and then age 72 in 2019. Bruce must note the RRIF balance at the beginning of the year for the purpose of calculating the minimum amount for that year.

Year
Bruce’s age at beginning of year
Bruce’s age for RRIF minimum
RRSP/RRIF balance at the beginning of the year
Minimum withdrawal rate
Minimum withdrawal amount

2017
Year Bruce converts his RRSP to a RRIF

2018
71
65
$100,000
4…

TORONTO _ Canada’s largest retirement fund manager is pushing to have more women on corporate boards because diversity makes for better business decisions, CPPIB chief executive Mark Machin said Friday.
“This is a high priority for us,” Machin said in an interview after Canada Pension Plan Investment Board released its second-quarter financial report.
“We think that diversity leads to better decision-making and I think there’s a growing body of academic and practical evidence that leads to that (conclusion).”
As a result, CPPIB _ which manages more than $325 billion for the Canada Pension Plan _ voted 34 times this year against specific directors who chaired board’s nomination committees that failed to include women as candidates.
Although none of the 34 targeted directors were defeated, Machin said that CPPIB believes it has a responsibility to take a leadership role and “would encourage other people to do the same.”
The CPPIB, itself, has an equal number of male and female directors on its 12-member board, which is chaired by Heather Munroe-Blum, a former president of McGill University…

Canada’s national pension plan had $328.2 billion in assets at the end of September, and posted a net return of 0.7 per cent over the previous three months.