TORONTO, March 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- OPTrust today released its 2020 Funded Status Report, Taking Care, which details the Plan's financial results and fully funded status. In 2020, OPTrust achieved an investment return of 8.9 per cent and lowered its discount rate. Membership in OPTrust Select, the defined benefit offering for Ontario's nonprofit, charitable and broader public sectors, continues to grow. This ensures more frontline workers and essential service providers will have access to a secure, predictable retirement.
"Every day, the team at OPTrust takes care of members and their financial future in retirement, just as our members have cared for many Ontarians in their roles as public servants and nonprofit workers," said Peter Lindley, President and CEO of OPTrust. "These workers fulfill some of the most essential services in our communities and the OPTrust team is focused on their well-being in retirement."
This was OPTrust's 25th year of delivering retirement security to members. During 2020, OPTrust's Member-Driven Investing (MDI) strategy helped the Plan navigate the market turbulence caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, reflecting the diversification within the portfolio and the strong performance of OPTrust's risk-mitigating strategies. MDI was designed to weather market volatility by maintaining the funded status of the Plan at the lowest risk possible.
"While no one could have predicted the events of the past year, we know that periods of volatility are always possible," said Lindley. "The effectiveness of our Member-Driven Investing strategy was evident in the way the portfolio remained resilient, and the high level of liquidity we maintained which enabled us to take advantage of opportunities that arose."
In keeping with the long-term focus of the Plan, OPTrust bolstered its commitment to sustainability in 2020 by completing carbon risk assessments, including measuring the carbon footprint of the public equity, fixed income, private equity and infrastructure portfolios. In recognition that we all have a role to play in ending systemic racism and promoting fairness, equality and acceptance, OPTrust also reviewed its policies and practices through a diversity lens, signed the BlackNorth Initiative Pledge, and is continuing to pursue EDGE certification as a gender-balanced workplace.
While working from home, the OPTrust team continued to provide an exceptional experience to members. In 2020, members and retirees rated their service satisfaction as 8.7 out of 10, a top 10 global placement by CEM Benchmarking Inc. OPTrust continued to strengthen actuarial assumptions to enhance the long-term funding health of the Plan by lowering the discount rate to 3.0%, net of inflation, from 3.1% in 2019.
More detailed information about OPTrust's 2020 strategy and results is available in Taking Care at optrust.com.
About OPTrust
With net assets of over $23 billion, OPTrust invests and manages one of Canada's largest pension funds and administers the OPSEU Pension Plan (including OPTrust Select), a defined benefit plan with over 98,000 members. OPTrust was established to give plan members and the Government of Ontario an equal voice in the administration of the Plan and the investment of its assets through joint trusteeship. OPTrust is governed by a 10-member Board of Trustees, five of whom are appointed by OPSEU and five by the Government of Ontario.
Media Contact: Claire Prashaw, Director, Public Affairs, OPTrust, 1-416-681-3617, cprashaw@optrust.com
