from our President & Chief Executive Officer
As we all continued to feel the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, HOOPP stayed focused on keeping your pension secure.
I'm pleased to report that our Plan remained strong with a funded status of 120% at year end. In other words, for every $1 we owe in pensions, the Plan has $1.20 in assets. That puts us in an excellent position to continue paying pensions now and in the future.
Read on to learn more about our 2021 highlights and what we’re doing to further strengthen our organization. I hope this information gives you peace of mind about your pension in these uncertain times.
On behalf of HOOPP, I want to thank you for everything you do for our communities. We are proud to serve you and help support your financial future.
Regards,
Jeff Wendling
President & Chief Executive Officer
Plan performance
The Plan entered 2021 in a very healthy position and delivered strong results for the year. We also took important steps to improve benefits and service offerings for members, and strengthen the organization to help us continue delivering on our pension promise.
All reported figures in this document are as at December 31, 2021.
Funded status
120%
A key indicator of a pension plan's health is the ratio of the Plan's assets to its regulatory pension obligations. The Plan's assets are smoothed over five years to minimize the impact of short-term market volatility.
Net assets
$114.4
billionNet assets available to pay pension benefits, or the difference between the Plan's assets and liabilities.
Rate of return 11.28%
The percentage gain or loss of the Fund over the past year. Our strong 2021 return helped further strengthen our Plan.
10-year annualized rate of return 11.06%
The Fund's average percentage gain or loss over 10 years, including compounding. Consistently strong investment performance contributes to the Plan's long-term stability.
More information about these results can be found on the Plan Performance page of hoopp.com.
Investments
Using our liability driven investing (LDI) strategy, our investment team successfully navigated another year of volatile financial markets and persistent challenges in the economy related to the ongoing effects of the pandemic. The result was a strong investment return and funded status, making the Plan more secure for the long term.
2021 highlights include:
-
Strong returns
We delivered strong gains across many of our asset classes, including public equities, real estate and private markets, which offset modest declines in our bond portfolio. -
Further diversification
We saw early success in our innovation economy investments and infrastructure program, as we continued to diversify our portfolio and geographic footprint. -
Managing risk
We continued to centralize and expand our risk management practices and capabilities to ensure strong systems, processes and oversight as the Fund grows.
2021 highlights include:
Sustainable investing
Sustainable investing means investing in a way that uses insights from environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors to enhance investment performance. One of our priority areas, which we know is also important to our members, is the complex and pressing issue of climate change. In 2021, we made meaningful strides in climate stewardship and investing in related opportunities:
- We became a founding member of Climate Engagement Canada (CEC), a collaborative engagement initiative focused on driving climate action at Canadian companies to deliver real-world emission reductions.
- We introduced a $1 billion allocation to climate change equities through indices aligned with The Paris Agreement on climate change, as a first step in a multi-year journey.
More information about sustainable investing at HOOPP can be found in our 2021 Annual Report and on hoopp.com.
Members and employers
Staying focused on our members, we took several steps this year to improve the Plan, enhance our service and help provide them with pension of mind, including:
- a benefit improvement for eligible active members who have service in the Plan in 2018, 2019, and/or 2020, which built on a 2017 improvement and increased the value of their pension
- inflation protection for retired and deferred members, with cost-of-living adjustments increasing pensions by 0.73%, effective April 1, 2021, and 4.8%, effective April 1, 2022
- increasing pension education and guidance through personal service to support members in their decision-making
- enhancing digital service and communication capabilities, including the ability to complete retirement elections online, and make electronic payments for buybacks and transfers
Total number of members:
419,627
257,647
Active
119,711
Retired
42,269
Deferred
Total number of employers:
624
169
Small healthcare organizations
140
Hospitals
87
Service providers
87
Family health
74
Foundations
67
Community health centres
People and culture
To support our growing membership, we continue to expand our workforce, while fostering a high-performing, equitable, diverse and inclusive culture. We believe that having a team that reflects the diversity of our communities and our membership is essential to our success.
In 2021 we:
- hired a Director, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) and launched our five-year EDI strategy, which is helping guide our program efforts and decision-making, while ensuring we continue making steady and tangible progress
- expanded recruiting partnerships to help diversify our talent pool
- continued educating leaders and employees through formal training, our growing Employee Resource Group initiative and a range of speakers and two-way dialogue opportunities
More information about our EDI initiatives can be found in the Strategic Planning section of our 2021 Annual Report.
Top employer award
HOOPP is proud to be recognized as one of Greater Toronto’s Top Employers of 2022 by Canada's Top 100 employers. It is the second year in a row we have received this distinction.
Share your feedback for a chance to win!
Let us know what you think of our 2021 Highlights for a chance to win a Dyson V7 Motorhead Origin cordless vacuum. Complete our short survey here.
Thank you and good luck!