Despite continued global uncertainty, we remain steadfastly focused on the long-term sustainability of the Plan.
TTC Pension Plan is committed to always being there for our members, and over the past year, that responsibility was never clearer to us. In an economic climate marked by uncertainty on many fronts—from concerns about inflation to the continuing war in Ukraine—we kept our sights firmly fixed on the long-term viability of the Plan. Thanks to our forward-looking investment approach and prudent risk management, the Plan is well positioned to withstand the present challenges, and we remain confident about its long-term outlook.
Despite the headwinds in 2022, the Plan’s performance continued to match our expectations. Our 10-year return of 7.3%, net of all fees and expenses, exceeded our benchmark by 0.6%, which translates to an excess return of roughly $500M over that period. I am happy to report that the Plan’s benefit promise is fully funded, which means we are equipped to meet all our current and long-term pension obligations (excluding any future benefit increases that may be approved).
Together with the Board, we finalized a new strategic plan for 2023–2026, which focuses on four key areas:
- Continue to enhance the sustainability of the Plan
- Enhance engagement with our Board, active and retired members, and stakeholders
- Enable service excellence by investing in our systems to get better information, faster
- Develop our talent and foster a purpose-driven workplace culture
This strategic plan now guides our organization as we continue working to strengthen our service to members and deliver long-term benefits security. In support of these goals, we are improving and expanding the opportunities for members to connect with us, and we continue to invest in new technology to make it easier for them to access the information they need. Our team has begun a multi-year journey to transition our pension administration book of record to a modern, cloud-based system. The new system will enable us to manage pension payments more efficiently through a paperless workflow and will expand our tools available to enhance member services. In preparation for this modernization, our team has begun the task of digitizing our records and we have updated our Plan text, which has been presented to our membership and approved at the Annual General Meeting.
I am also pleased to announce that the results of our first Members Survey are now available on our website. I am proud of the work our team has put into this survey, which provides us with valuable insight into our members’ needs and their expectations of us. The responses to the survey show that members value the role TTCPP plays in their retirement security and also point us to areas where we can improve. We are committed to listening to this feedback. Our goal is to continue the survey annually and track our performance over time to ensure we are always working to meet the needs of our members.
As always, I would like to thank our tireless staff for all their hard work and their dedication to our members. Whether it’s introducing new seminars and communication tools to keep members informed about the Plan or travelling to their worksites to meet with them, our team is committed to being there for our members at every step of their journey.
After a year of ongoing global challenges, I am optimistic that we are headed in the right direction and well positioned for the future. We remain focused on ensuring the sustainability of our plan and on continuing to deliver for our members, for the long run.