Understanding Accounting, Actuarial and Investment Reports

by David M. Veld, D. Cameron Hunter and Kyle Weeden

Accounting and Audit Reports

The culmination of the financial and accounting activities for a benefit plan year is preparing and presenting audited financial statements to the board of trustees. The financial statements summarize what has happened in the preceding year using a statement of changes in net assets available for benefits. There is also a statement of financial position providing a snapshot of fund assets and liabilities at a given point in time, usually December 31. Accompanying notes explain various items in the statements. An independent auditor reports their findings in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards. The auditor expresses their opinion as to the fairness of the information in accordance with Canadian accounting standards for pension plans, which are applicable to all benefit plan financial statements. Use of these statements requires an understanding of what makes up the figures reported in them and how these numbers were derived.

Responsibility for Financial Statements and Accounting Records

Fund trustees have the ultimate legal and fiduciary responsibility for the security of plan assets and for providing agreed-upon benefits. While trustees may hire a number of professionals to assist them in fulfilling their duties—for example, an administrator, an actuary, an investment counselor, a custodian and a lawyer—trustees are still responsible for the actions of these agents. Annual financial statements audited by fund auditors are no exception.

Financial statements that are provided to the auditors are prepared by trustees or, more commonly, a plan agent or administrator. In other situations, the auditor helps prepare the statements within the rules of independence using information provided by one of these parties. The independent auditor’s report makes clear the responsibilities of management and those charged with governance for the financial statements.

“Management (the trustees) is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements in accordance with Canadian accounting standards for pension plans, and for such internal control as management determines is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.”

“Those charged with governance are responsible for overseeing the fund’s financial reporting process.”

Clearly, these are the trustees’ financial statements, and the ultimate responsibility for the statements is that of the trustees. “Trustees and Their Professional Advisors” discusses in greater detail the extent to which trustees can rely on services performed by others on their behalf. It is safe to say that blindly accepting reports prepared by others without due care and diligence can expose trustees to substantial risk.

The Independent Auditor’s Report

The independent auditor’s report tells what the auditor has done to arrive at an opinion regarding the fund’s year-end financial position and the results of its operations for the year. The report also documents the roles and responsibilities of the trustees and the auditor. It typically states the standards followed in conducting the audit and that the procedures selected depend on the auditor’s judgment to assess if there is a reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement. The independent auditor exercises professional judgment and maintains professional skepticism throughout the audit.

The amount of testing conducted by an auditor depends upon the internal controls maintained in the financial reporting process to ensure that fund records and operations are accurate and properly safeguarded. Based upon the auditor’s assessment of these internal controls and the risk associated with various aspects of the audit, the auditor conducts sufficient tests to obtain reasonable (but not absolute) assurance the statements are free of material misstatement. Given the increase in the use of electronic data and records maintenance in recent years, the auditor may involve information technology experts in their audit processes.

What is material? It is the probability that, if an item or piece of information is missing or misstated, it would influence or change a decision of the users of the financial statements. The size and type of fund affect the level of materiality. It is subject to professional judgment and should be discussed with the auditor in each separate case.

Scope Limitation

Most multi-employer trust fund audit reports contain a scope limitation that reads as follows:

“The scope of our audit was limited to the records of the fund and therefore did not extend to an examination of the payroll records of the contributing employers. Accordingly, our verification of contribution revenue was limited to the amounts recorded in the records of the fund, and we were not able to determine whether any adjustments might be necessary to contribution revenue and increase in net assets . . .”

What this says is that the auditor did not audit the payroll records of the contributing employers to ensure contribution reports were accurately submitted. Instead, the auditor test-checked contribution reports submitted by employers to see that they were recorded properly and accurately in fund books.

Some plans are formed by trust agreements that give trustees the authority to carry out payroll audits. Such audits are separate from the end-of-year financial audit. They are often carried out when trustees have reason to believe contributions received by the fund are inaccurate or the fund administrator reports some unusual activity with a particular contributing employer. Trustees should consider the amount of the potential misstatement versus the cost of having fund auditors carry out a payroll audit.

It is difficult to estimate the cost of a payroll audit; it depends upon the size of the fund and the extent of the problems. Some collective agreements require the contributing employer to pay the cost of the payroll audit, while others provide for such payment only if there is noncompliance with the contribution requirements specified in the collective bargaining agreement.

Qualification

When an auditor issues an unqualified audit report, this indicates the auditor found no problems with the financial records and attests to the fairness of the financial statements in all material respects without reservation. If a scope limitation is present, the auditor’s opinion must be qualified to the extent of this limitation. While not perfect, this is acceptable in most instances and something most multi-employer plan trustees are used to seeing and having explained by their auditors.

In some cases, an auditor may issue an unqualified report without the scope limitation with respect to contribution revenue. To do so, the auditor may require testing of employer contribution processes based on sampling techniques and professional judgement.

Sometimes, financial reporting deficiencies are encountered during an audit. Those that are not serious are usually reported to the trustees verbally or via a management letter in which the issues are explained and a recommended course of action is suggested. When a problem is uncovered that is not properly resolved, and it is material enough to affect the fairness of the financial statements, the auditor must add a qualification to the opinion paragraph. Though not common, this possibility makes it essential that the auditor’s report be read in its entirety to understand everything said. The reader must also ask questions when something unusual appears. In very rare cases, an auditor is unable to issue an opinion due to the pervasiveness of an issue—The auditor then issues an adverse opinion.

Schedule of Unadjusted Differences

During the audit, the auditor may identify misstatements that are not material to the financial statements and do not change the auditor’s ability to issue an unqualified opinion. If such amounts are identified, they are summarized on a schedule of unadjusted differences and brought to the attention of the trustees to decide whether they would like to adjust the financial statements.

Date of Report

The last item on the bottom of the audit report is the date of the independent auditor’s report, which is the date that the auditor has obtained the evidence they require to issue their opinion and is no earlier than the date the financial statements were approved by the trustees, an audit committee or others with the authority to do so. A long period between the end of the year and this date may indicate problems with fund operations and should be questioned. The auditor will have to perform additional procedures to ensure no material transactions that should be reflected in the financial statements or notes occurred between the date of the fieldwork for the audit and the audit report date.

Statement of Financial Position

A statement of financial position follows the auditor’s report. This statement reports the assets owned by the fund and the liabilities owed by the fund. The difference between fund assets and liabilities is net assets available for benefits. What follows is an explanation of the most common accounts found on a fund statement of financial position and how these accounts interconnect. The actual order in which these accounts are shown is not that important, but assets are usually shown in descending order based on their liquidity—how quickly they can be turned into cash or prominence in the financial statements, such as invested assets.

All financial statements should show current year figures alongside comparative figures for the previous year. This reveals any significant changes so the reader can question all relevant or material changes. Reviewing and analyzing these changes is one of the most important steps a reader can take to understand fund financial statements and what has happened during the past year.

Cash

Whenever possible, surplus cash should be turned over to fund money managers to be invested as quickly as practical to attain the best investment return available, with a reasonable amount retained in cash to provide short-term benefits and fund operating expenses. If there is a large cash balance at the end of a year, ask whether it is in an interest-bearing account. If it is not, ask why not. As stated previously, question any large changes between the current and previous year.

Contributions Receivable

This account generally represents employer/employee contributions for the last month of the year (or prior work months) that are due to the fund at the end of the fiscal year. Contributions receivable may also contain contributions due but not remitted with a contribution report. Trustees should question any large increase or decrease in this account from the prior year and compare any increases or decreases to the changes in annual contributions. A large increase in contributions receivable may indicate poor delinquency control procedures, poor follow-up on delinquent accounts, or delinquency of one or more large contributing employers. On the other hand, it may signal something as simple as an increase in reported hours or the contribution rate near the end of the year compared to the prior year. To determine whether there is a problem, the reader must ask why the change occurred.

Investments

The statement of financial position usually shows one total for the investments detailed in an accompanying note. The user should review this note and analyze the different investment categories for large changes that may need to be questioned. The type of fund and its liquidity requirements determine the investments held by a fund. For example, life and health benefit trusts, as well as vacation pay funds, usually keep most investments in short-term vehicles so they are readily available to provide benefits to members. In contrast, pension funds maintain most of their investments in longer term vehicles, depending on the fund’s liquidity needs.

The accompanying notes should detail the investments held by each manager. This information will likely show that each manager has invested in different investment categories based upon different investment mandates as specified in the fund’s statement of investment policies and procedures. The variations in investment mandates provide the fund with a diversified portfolio that is protection against any one segment of the market performing poorly and greatly affecting the fund’s overall investment return.

Prevailing accounting standards and provincial legislation require the reporting of all pension plan investments in financial statements at their current market values rather than their historical costs. In addition, there are additional disclosure requirements for investment holdings, including disclosures related to risks that the fund’s investment may be exposed to. Certain provincial regulators also require disclosures with respect to investment allocation percentages relative to the target allocation and fund policy ranges specified in the fund’s statement of investment policies and procedures, and it would be prudent for trustees to incorporate these disclosures.

Accrued Interest/Dividends Receivable

This account represents the amount of interest or dividends due to the fund at year-end but not received. Investment managers may provide this information in their year-end statements. Alternatively, a plan administrator’s accounting staff or the plan’s auditor may calculate it. Again, any significant change from the prior year should be questioned.

Prepaid Expenses

This account is comprised of amounts paid during the year but related to a future expense. An example is a rent deposit for the last month’s rent. Another is the payment of an annual insurance premium on July 1, for which only half of the premium is unused as of December 31.

Accounts Payable and Accrued Liabilities

All of the above are assets. The first liability listed is usually accounts payable and accrued liabilities, which represent any money owed for expenses incurred prior to year-end that are not paid until later. This includes monthly operating expenses not paid until an invoice is received. Often, there are also fourth-quarter fees from fund professional advisors. Trustees may request that a particularly large amount payable on a specific expense be reported separately. Examples of these expenses include insurance premiums and benefits payable.

Hour/Dollar Bank

The most misunderstood item on a health and welfare fund financial statement is probably the hour/dollar bank liability. The hour/dollar bank is a notional amount used to determine eligibility and is calculated by accumulating contributions received and deducting an amount to cover the costs of benefits provided. The hour/dollar bank can best be explained by comparing it with the more familiar bank account with its deposits and withdrawals. Each month, hours worked/contributions remitted (and stated on the employer contribution reports) are deposited into the hour/dollar account as actual hours reported or as actual dollars received by the fund. The number of hours or dollars required to qualify and pay premiums for full benefits is then withdrawn from the same bank. The withdrawal is often referred to as the drawdown or takeout amount. The balance in the bank at the end of the year is used to calculate the hour/dollar bank liability—This represents benefits to be provided in the future.

To arrive at the dollar value of the hour bank liability, one of two methods is used. The first method multiplies the bank hours at the end of the year by the employer contribution rate. For the second method, hour bank hours are divided by the monthly drawdown to determine a “months of benefit” number—This number is then multiplied by the monthly premium rate (benefit cost) in effect at the end of the year. The intention is to quantify the amount of money to be set aside to pay benefits to eligible beneficiaries in the future even if the fund receives no future contributions on behalf of these persons.

It is important to question whether there was a change in the contribution rate, the monthly drawdown rate, the monthly premium rate or any other factor that affects the determination of the hour/dollar bank liability. Some changes require recalculation of the bank balance, and trustees should confirm that the auditor checked any such change. Also, trustees should confirm the last time the hour/dollar bank was purged of deceased, retired or other inactive participants. An hour/dollar bank should be purged annually as a large reduction in the liability could allow the trustees to fund reserves or improve the plan’s benefits.

Incurred but Not Reported Claims

This account appears in benefit fund statements with one or more self-insured benefits. This liability is an estimate of the amount of claims incurred by members prior to year-end that have not yet been submitted to the fund for processing and payment.

Trustees should not hesitate to ask how this amount was determined and how the auditor checked the calculations for reasonableness. Where benefits are funded through an insurance company, trustees should question insurers as to the existence of any reserves or deficits carried on their books that may be considered either an asset or liability of the fund.

Net Assets Available for Benefits

Restricted reserves are amounts set aside for a specific purpose. In some situations, rules dictating how and when this money can be spent cannot be changed by the trustees. Other times, trustees may internally restrict a balance for a specific purpose such as a benefit stabilization reserve or a retiree benefits reserve.

Unrestricted amounts are for general use by trustees in accordance with the trust agreement. These are the amounts remaining in the fund to pay the benefits to members.

Restricted reserves are reported as reserves within net assets available for benefits on the statement of financial position, and details are generally provided in the notes to the financial statements. A description of the restricted re- serves should be provided in the accompanying notes to the financial statements. Trustees are responsible for ensuring that all contributions are properly allocated and used for their intended purpose.

Statement of Changes in Net Assets Available for Benefits

The next statement is the statement of changes in net assets available for benefits. This statement provides a summary of the transactions that have taken place during the past year and tells the story of what occurred in the year. Trustees should review the revenue and expense items and question any accounts that show large changes from the previous year. All of this statement’s figures should be on an accrual basis, which means all transactions for the year are reported on the statement.

Amounts not yet received are reported on the statement of financial position as outstanding receivables. Likewise, all expenses incurred but unpaid at year-end are reported on this statement with the offsetting outstanding payables reported on the statement of financial position. Accrual accounting allows for income and expense items for the year to be properly included in the year’s financial statements to which the transactions relate, regardless of the actual receipt or payment of cash.

Contribution Revenue

Contributions consist of the employer/employee payments received pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement. This figure fluctuates during the year with the number of hours worked and reported by contributing employers and the contribution rate in effect.

Investment Income

This figure represents the actual investment income earned by the fund during the year; it is usually comprised of interest, dividends, and gains or losses on the sale investments. Funds that invest in pooled funds may include a single line for investment income that represents the reinvested income from the pooled fund and any fair value adjustment. An analysis of the types of income and investment income by the money manager is normally detailed in an accompanying note. The fund custodian who holds and safeguards plan investments will report all investment balances and transactions. As part of the audit, the auditor will compare the custodian’s report to those received from the investment managers and reconcile any differences. For certain alternative investment structures (e.g., investments in real estate, infrastructure, etc.), there may be a delay in the custodian obtaining information on the investment holdings and transactions. In those situations, the investment manager reports may be more accurate than the amounts reported by the custodian. To verify accuracy, the auditor may obtain the audited financial statement of the investment vehicles (e.g., real estate manager, infrastructure manager, etc.) held by the plan and reconcile these amounts to the amounts reported by the fund.

Funds are required to report investments at fair market value. This approach results in the reporting of an unrealized gain or loss from investments annually. This figure is based on the increase or decrease in the current year’s market value compared with that of the prior year. It is an unrealized or paper entry—The actual gain or loss on any investment is not realized until the investment is sold. This approach provides a more accurate reporting of the value of the fund’s assets at the reporting date; however, it can result in large annual fluctuations when stock or bond markets are volatile.

Expenses

The expenses incurred by most funds are often consistent and not unusual. A comparison of each expense between the current and prior year is essential and should reveal any unusual occurrences. Trustees should expect the auditor to highlight and explain any significant changes between the years when the draft financial statements are presented. Some funds prepare annual budgets that provide another means of comparison with resulting explanations. Expenses vary by fund type but usually consist of insurance premiums, self-insured claims, benefit payments, administration costs and professional fees.

Notes to the Financial Statements

The last several pages of the financial statements contain notes that are an integral part of the statements. Notes contain back- up detail to the numbers reported in the financial statements and explain what affected the fund during the year. They may provide a brief description of plan benefits as well as the recipients of professional fees and administrative fees. Given these are the trustees’ financial statements, notes can contain as much information as the trustees wish.

Actuarial Reports

Trustees need an actuary’s services if their plan has an obligation to pay future benefits. An actuary forecasts uncertain events that affect the future benefits and costs associated with a fund, such as interest and other investment earnings, inflation, unemployment, mortality rates and retirement patterns. An obvious example of the need for an actuary is a pension plan where members contribute for many years before starting to receive their pension. Under a life and health benefit trust, trustees may need the services of an actuary to determine the appropriate reserve for funding specific benefits such as life insurance, retiree death benefits and disability benefits.

Generally, an actuary makes assumptions about the future that provide the basis for assessing the security of plan benefits and determining the contributions required to maintain this security. Plan sponsors and trustees must understand the general issues involved in the complex work of an actuary so they can make appropriate decisions with respect to the provision of their plan’s benefits.

It is important that actuarial assumptions and methods suit the particular situation. Hence, an actuarial report should begin with a statement of purpose. For example, the intent of the report might be to consider one or a combination of these matters:

• Ongoing plan funding
• Fund solvency on a particular date
• Expenses to be charged for accounting purposes.

The actuary should explain the key assumptions of the report. These assumptions and actuarial methods should be summarized along with an explanation of any changes made since the previous valuation. Changes should be justified by referencing the plan’s funding strategy or experience.

There should be reference to the sources of both employee data and asset data used in the report. Normally, the most current data are reconciled to ensure accuracy. Data presented such as high employee turnover or low rates of investment return may explain why the value of the fund is not what was expected.

The focus of the actuarial report is a balance sheet comparing plan liabilities with the assets available to meet these liabilities. Normally, pension plan liabilities are split between active, inactive and retired members. Active members are typically members for whom contributions were remitted to the fund in the last 12 months. Inactive members are not retired but have not had contributions remitted within the last 12 months. A report on life and health benefit plans normally doesn’t include liabilities for inactive members as such individuals usually are no longer entitled to any benefits from the plan. Plan liabilities should be reasonably consistent with the results shown by the previous valuation. Assets may be adjusted to reflect contributions and benefits due but not paid as of the valuation date.

Pension plan trustees should have a funding or benefit policy that addresses situations where there is a funding excess—more assets than liabilities or a funding shortfall, with liabilities exceeding assets. The actuary may advise the trustees on appropriate courses course of action to eliminate any deficit (e.g., use a portion of future contributions to eliminate the shortfall over a period of years).

Pension plan actuarial reports include a gain and loss analysis designed to help trustees understand the experience of the plan. This analysis reconciles the expected financial position of the plan—based on the previous valuation—with the actual position. This reveals areas contributing to more favourable results than expected (gains) and those that are less favourable (losses). When a particular item consistently gives rise to a gain or loss, ask the actuary why the assumption for this item has not been changed.

Finally, the actuarial report should assess the cost of benefits and, possibly, expenses relative to the expected contribution revenue for the period to the next valuation date. The cost of benefits should be consistent with the previous report unless there has been a significant change in the composition of the membership or a change in the actuarial basis. Expected contribution revenue should reflect expected work levels and changes in the contribution rate. For life and health benefit plans, recent claims experience significantly impacts the cost of benefits. Various appendices to the report may contain additional details and an actuary’s certificate suitable for the regulatory authorities.

Investment Reports

There are two primary types of investment reports: (1) financial statements and (2) investment analysis/investment performance reports. The fund custodian usually produces financial statements, though pooled funds or individual investments in stocks and bonds and alternative investment funds can have financial statements prepared by the investment manager directly or by an underlying custodian. Investment analysis/investment performance reports can be produced by a custodian, an investment manager or an investment performance measurement service.

Financial Statements

Financial statements take the same form as corporate financial statements. However, they look different because the assets and the trading of the assets dominate them.

Statement of Financial Position

The assets of an investment fund typically consist of cash and securities. Consequently, the fund portfolio listing is the main part of the statement of financial position. This listing should contain the book value, market value, number of shares and percentage of total market value for each security owned by the fund. The terms in italics are defined in the glossary in this handbook. Accrued interest is shown for each asset or the entire portfolio as applicable. The list of securities is usually separated between cash equivalents, bonds, equities and alternative investments, including private equity and debt, real assets and absolute return strategies among other investment categories. The geographic exposure is shown for securities that are denominated in foreign currencies with the converted value in Canadian dollars stated as of the reporting date. The portfolio listing and the cash transaction statement discussed later are the two best and most objective sources of information regarding what an investment manager is doing. Trustees should review these elements carefully. With respect to the portfolio listing:

• Make sure the fund is invested according to the investment policy set by trustees for the manager
• Look for and ask the manager about any investments not understood

Cash Transaction Statement

This statement shows a fund’s beginning cash balance, transactions (e.g., deposits, withdrawals, dividends, interest, purchases and sales) and ending cash balance. The statement discloses exactly what the investment manager did during the period and must be reviewed carefully.

• Check the amount of turnover (i.e., investment purchases plus sales expenses as a percent of total assets). There is a cost involved in buying and selling assets. Make sure the manager’s turnover is not higher than what the manager originally estimated for the strategy. If it is, question why.
• Make sure there are no overdrafts.
• Make sure all expenses have been authorized.

Other Statements

Often there is a statement of realized gains and losses. Realized losses, by themselves, do not mean much; they may be offset by unrealized gains. The total of investment income and realized and unrealized gains and losses is used to determine the investment return of the fund. Trustees should assess the return against applicable benchmarks and inquire with the investment manager and/or investment performance provider for commentary where returns are materially different.

Commission statements show the amount paid by the investment manager to various brokers to execute trades. Commissions should be reviewed carefully. If a large portion of the commissions are going to one or two brokers, they should be questioned. When there is a soft dollar arrangement where a commission is not paid directly to a manager in “hard” cash, check the commission amount paid against the contractual arrangement. Unfortunately, commission statements are not always provided. In this case, trustees must ask their custodian to regularly provide one.

Investment Manager Reports

An investment manager should typically provide quarterly reporting to the trustees. This report offers a first review of the economic and financial markets for the period. The presentation should be straightforward with easy-to-understand language and limited use of overly technical terminology.

An investment report provides the foundation upon which investment managers discuss the rates of return on fund investments. Trustees should be involved in determining the reporting timeframe used by the investment manager with consideration given to the investment policy provisions. Time-weighted returns are recommended for at least:

• Most recent quarter
• Year to date
• One-, two-, three-, four-, five-, seven- and ten-year annualized periods.

A rate of return shows how much a fund has earned on an investment for a period and should be evaluated in comparison to the rate of return earned by an appropriate benchmark for the investment as set out in the investment policy. Investors often benchmark the performance of investments with major indices such as the S&P/TSX Composite Index for Canadian equity mandates. Any difference, positive or negative, should be explained by the manager.

An investment manager’s report should also contain a discussion of the current portfolio, the most recent quarter’s return drivers and any significant trading that occurred during the period. It should also contain the manager’s outlook and strategy regarding anticipated economic and financial events and how the fund is positioned to take advantage of these events. Finally, this report should disclose any relevant corporate changes such as turnover (terminations or retirements) of key staff as well as structural or ownership changes.

Performance Measurement Report

A performance measurement report usually shows how the rate of return on fund investments compares with the performance of predetermined benchmarks. The purpose of these reports is to evaluate the investment manager’s performance against an appropriate benchmark and against other investment managers as reported in an appropriate investment manager universe (depending on the benchmark selected).

A benchmark might be the performance of a broad market index or that of a universe of funds with a similar investment mandate. If the universe approach is taken, it is important that the funds in the universe have a similar asset mix. For example, do not compare a balanced fund with 20% in equities to a balanced fund with 60% in equities. Alternative investments can be difficult to assign benchmarks to as there is often no publicly available passive benchmark. Alternative investments can be benchmarked to public market indexes plus an annual return premium where the public market equivalent represents a similar risk profile to the alternative investment (e.g., private equity investments could potentially be benchmarked to a global equity public market index plus 2-3% per annum to represent the higher return premium expected from the private investment). Other options for alternative benchmarking include an inflation-linked benchmark plus an annual return premium or the average return from a universe of funds with a consistent investment strategy to that of the mandate.

A relative performance report provides the fund's performance against a universe of funds. Performance is typically provided in performance bands—namely, the top and bottom 5% of funds and then funds in the 25th, 50th and 75th percentile. The report should show performance over multiple periods, such as the performance over specific time frames or the average annual performance over longer periods. While trustees must continually monitor the performance of their fund and investment managers, they should be most interested in long-term performance. Look for performance better than average over long periods—not necessarily the best performance in any one period.

Performance measurement reports typically do not report on any financial targets the trustees may have established. Such targets could be to achieve a rate of return of at least the pension plan’s discount rate, or a rate of return of inflation plus a margin. If not addressed in a performance measurement report, the plan’s actuary should report on a plan’s performance relative to its actuarial goals.

Conclusion

Financial and actuarial report statements are a source of valuable information. The trustee meeting is not the place to take a first look at them. Trustees should insist these reports be distributed well before any meeting so there is time to thoroughly examine the pages and prepare questions.

Trustees must keep in mind they are approving the statements on behalf of all trust beneficiaries. They are expected to review the statements considering the information available to them via their position as a trustee as well as a management or union representative. Understanding the statements makes it possible to participate more fully in trustee meetings, be better prepared to make knowledgeable decisions and be viewed as a valued board member.

David Veld is BDO Canada’s National Pension and Benefits Group leader, providing thought leadership and industry experience to clients, industry organizations and other professionals in the employee benefit plan sector.

Kyle Weeden is a Principal within Eckler Ltd.’s investment consulting practice with over fifteen years of industry experience and knowledge covering a wide range of institutional investors. https://www.eckler.ca/team-members/kyle-weeden/

Cameron Hunter is a Principal at Eckler Ltd. and has extensive experience in design, funding and governance with member-run pension and benefit plans.