Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan President & CEO John Crocker has received a prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award from Benefits Canada, a leading pension industry publication.
Crocker received his award during Benefits Canada’s 2011 Pension & Investment Awards gala celebration, held at the Le Meridien King Edward Hotel in Toronto.
During Crocker’s 10-year term as HOOPP CEO, the Plan has enjoyed great success on the investment and funding fronts. HOOPP is one of the few defined benefit plans anywhere that is fully funded, and despite two major market downturns in the first decade of the century, HOOPP’s returns average 6.23 per cent for the 10-year period ending Dec. 31, 2010.
Crocker told the audience that the defined benefit pension plan model is the best there is for ensuring retirement income adequacy. “Throughout my career, the best way to deliver – effectively and efficiently – retirement income has been through a defined benefit pension plan. No other type of savings arrangement builds towards a specific income replacement goal,” he says. “It’s a collaborative effort between the member, the employer, and the investment strategy – and when it works, which is nearly all of the time, the result is dignity and independence for retirees.”
The award, says Alyssa Hodder, Editor of Benefits Canada, honours “individuals who have demonstrated leadership and innovation – and who have made a real difference in the pension and investment industry.”
For further information or to arrange interviews, please contact Martin Biefer, Director, Public Affairs at 416 369-8045.