Your Pension Plan In Difficult Times

Pension legislation imposes a statutory duty of care on a pension plan administrator in the administration and investment of the pension fund. In discharging such duty of care, an administrator must review the pension fund investments and the plan's statement of investment policies and procedures on a regular basis.

The current market instability and related employee enquiries have caused administrators to ask whether they need to take any particular action in the circumstances to discharge their duty of care. Pension legislation does not impose specific obligations on pension plan administrators during market instability. However, there are a number of matters which an administrator should consider. These matters are relevant to pension fund administration at all times, not only during times of market instability. Market instability only highlights the need to take them into consideration.