The board members delegate ongoing plan administration and investment management to the chief executive officer and his staff. A job description for the CEO, as the board’s delegatee, complements the delegation of these primary tasks. The staff manages two core businesses – member services and pension fund management – each supported by general corporate services. This plan is one of few Canadian pension organizations that provides pension services directly to its members rather than through their employers.

The board requires the plan’s management to establish annual corporate objectives and a financial plan for fund investment and member services, as well as longer-term business strategies, and reviews management’s progress against these and other objectives. To ensure the interests of management and plan beneficiaries are closely aligned, senior staff receive annual and long-term bonuses based on the achievement of pre-set performance targets approved by the board members.

The board members annually review the investment strategy, which is expressed in the Statement of Investment Policies and Procedures (115 KB PDF) . This document sets out, for example, the long-term asset-mix policy.

The board members also regularly review the strategies for assets. Investment managers are rewarded for achieving annual and four-year performance targets. For the Member Services division, managers are required to meet annual and three-year performance targets for improvements in the quality of services (measured by regular surveys of member opinions), and the effectiveness of managing operating costs.

Every year, the board members receive an actuarial valuation of the plan’s financial viability and audited financial statements. The board members also annually review the investment and non-investment risks faced by the organization, and the adequacy of procedures to deal with those risks. In addition, the performance of the investment portfolio and the plan’s financial position are reviewed every quarter.