Behind the scenes of your pension plan, the UBC Staff Pension Plan (SPP) Board works diligently on behalf of all members. Meeting several times a year, the SPP Board oversees key areas such as administration, governance, investments, member education and communication. The SPP Board collaborates with the University, advisors and consultants to ensure the Plan is well-managed, equitable, and sustainable over the long term. This article highlights the SPP Board’s role in governance.
What is governance and why is it important?
Governance of the UBC SPP refers to the framework that defines the roles and responsibilities of its governing parties, ensuring strategic, clear, and timely decisions are made in respect to the Plan. Good governance prioritizes the best interests of members and beneficiaries, upholds the Board’s fiduciary duties, and ensures best practices in Plan administration. This structure helps to provide stable, valuable lifetime pensions at retirement, reinforcing that membership in the SPP holds considerable value.
What are fiduciary duties?
A fiduciary is essentially someone entrusted to hold or manage assets (e.g. money or property) in trust on behalf of others, acting in their best interests. In pension plans, those that sponsor and manage the plan, act as fiduciaries for plan members and their beneficiaries — this means that they are responsible for acting in the best interests of all plan members and beneficiaries.
Duties and powers of the SPP Board
The Pension Board Terms of Reference sets out the duties and powers of the SPP Board. It was adopted by the UBC Board of Governors in February of 2012, and its inception was the result of more than two years of review and consultation between the University administration, SPP Board, legal counsel, and the UBC Board of Governors. The Pension Board Terms of Reference outlines the duties delegated to the Pension Board by the UBC Board of Governors. Some key duties include:
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- Overseeing the Pension Administration Office and third-party service providers in the day-to-day administration of the Plan, including the determination of payment of benefits and expenses.
- Formulating and monitoring the Plan’s investments as described in the Statement of Investment Policies and Procedures. This includes determining the asset mix policy for the Plan’s investments and submitting it to the UBC Board of Governors for approval.
- Approving the methods and assumptions used to test and check the financial health of the Plan, through means such as the actuarial valuation.
- Monitoring the Plan’s compliance (administration, funding, and investments) with the terms of the Plan, the B.C. Pension Benefits Standards Act, the Income Tax Act and other regulatory governance standards.
- Preparation of reports on pension governance and compliance.
- Coordination of Plan governance with the University’s policies on conduct, conflicts, privacy, confidential information and document retention.
Learn more about the various policies and procedures that govern the activities of the SPP Board.
Who is on the SPP Board?
The SPP Board is composed of nine members:
- Four members are elected by Plan members and serve four-year terms;
- Four members are appointed by the UBC Board of Governors and serve four-year terms; and
- One member is appointed by the UBC Board of Governors as an independent, non-voting chair.
The SPP Board has a significant role in the governance of your pension plan and welcomes your feedback. If you have any questions or matters that you would like to bring forward to the SPP Board, please contact Derrick Johnstone, Executive Director, Pensions at derrick.johnstone@ubc.ca.
In case you missed it
Listen to Pension Airwaves Podcast, Episode 19 Joining the Pension Board, which covers the function and responsibilities of the Board and its members, why someone might want to join, and how to be nominated for an elected position on the Pension Board.
