September 21, 2009
To:
Members of the Research Pension Plan
From:
Research Pension Plan Committee
REPORT TO PLAN PARTICIPANTS
Since June of 2008, the Committee has met 10 times. Along with the normal oversight duties of
the operation of the Plan, a major undertaking of the Committee was development of the Plan’s
Governance Document. This document was approved by the Board of Governors and became
effective July 1, 2009. The Committee also recommended rate changes to coincide with other
employee groups at the University of Saskatchewan. The rate changes (amendment #13) were
communicated to plan members in April, 2009 and became effective May 1, 2009. The
Committee also conducted an annual review of the Statement of Investment Policies and
Procedures. All of the above documents for the Research Pension Plan may be accessed at
www.usask.ca/fsd/pensions/ under Pension Plans.
The Research Committee, together with Sun Life Financial organized interactive investment
workshops on October 15th and 16th, 2008 to familiarize members with the principles of building
an investment portfolio. Retirement planning workshops were held on February 23rd and 24th,
2009. As part of the ongoing information and communication strategy, the Committee partnered
with Sun Life to circulate seven newsletters dealing with financial planning and investment
strategies. These newsletters can be viewed at the above mentioned link under Pension News.
Investment Performance of the Plan
As Plan members have differing risk preferences, the Plan makes several investment options
available to members. These options allow members to select funds with a mix of underlying
assets that meets their investment needs.
Stock markets around the world declined precipitously in 2008 and this environment made for a
very difficult year for investment returns. Nevertheless, the Life Cycle Funds did provide some
protection relative to their benchmarks. The benchmark portfolios for each of the funds have
been determined using the actual returns of the market indexes such as the S&P/TSX Capped
Composite Index, Standard and Poor’s 500 U. S. Stock Index, Morgan Stanley Europe,
Australia and Far East Index, DEX Universe Bond Index and 91-Day Canadian Treasury Bills.
The following is a summary of the Plan’s investment performance as at December 31, 2008
exclusive of investment expenses:
Fund
Money Market
Return
Benchmark
Bond Fund
Return
Benchmark
1 year
4 year
3.8%
3.3%
3.7%
3.6%
6.1%
6.4%
5.0%
5.1%
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This document and future communications are available online at:
www.usask.ca/fsd/pensions
Conservative Life Cycle Fund
Return
Benchmark
Balanced Life Cycle Fund
Return
Benchmark
Aggressive Life Cycle Fund
Return
Benchmark
Canadian Equity Fund
Return
Benchmark
U.S Equity Fund
Return
Benchmark
International Equity Fund
Return
Benchmark
-0.7%
-1.2%
3.9%
3.9%
-13.6%
-15.2%
1.4%
1.4%
-19.7%
-21.6%
0.0%
0.1%
-25.5%
-33.0%
3.3%
1.7%
-21.2%
-21.2%
-4.6%
-4.5%
-30.1%
-29.2%
-3.4%
-1.8%
The Sun Life member website at www.sunlife.ca/member contains additional information about
the Plan’s performance. Additionally, you can access the Plan’s Financial Statements at
http://www.usask.ca/fsd/pensions.
Please contact the Pensions Office at 966-6633 or any member of the Research Pension Plan
Committee if you have any questions about the items covered.
The Research Pension Committee members are:
•
•
•
Doug Hassard (Plant Sciences)
Neil Johnson (CLS)
Carol Martel (VIDO)
Bob Elliott (Financial Services)
Laura Kennedy (Financial Services)
Heather Fortosky (Pensions Office)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This document and future communications are available online at:
www.usask.ca/fsd/pensions