FEI Canada unveils new studies.

• Position: Financial Executives Institute

FEI Canada has just released two new studies on pension plans and workers' compensation in Canada. Here are some highlights. Survey of Pension Plans in Canada - 11th Edition

This biennial study provides baseline data on the key elements of the defined-benefit and defined-contribution plans of FEI Canada members, as well as how plan sponsors are dealing with significant legislative and market changes. It's based on 143 respondents who provided data on 196 pension plans, of which 134 are defined-benefit plans and 62 are defined-contribution plans. Major findings of the study, written by Darroch A. Robertson, associate professor, and T. Ross Archibald, professor, both at the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, include:

* Old Age Security, the Canadian Pension Plan and the Quebec Pension Plan play a central role. On average, employer pension plans in Canada pay an employee earning $35,400 at retirement a total of $29,028. Forty-three percent of this comes from OAS and CPP/QPP payments, and 57 percent is from the employer's pension fund.

* The popularity of defined-contribution plans continues to rise. Thirty-two percent of the respondents had replaced a defined-benefit plan with a defined-contribution plan within the past five years. Plus, another 19 percent were studying the feasibility of introducing a defined-contribution plan.

* Defined-benefit plans remain healthy. Compared to the results of FEI Canada's 1994 survey, these plans show a modest strengthening in the size of surpluses - from $4.25 billion in 1994 to $5.39 billion in 1996. This comparison also demonstrates a decrease in the size of unfunded liabilities, from $2.79 billion in 1994 to $1.63 billion in 1995.

* Respondents have increased their foreign investment holdings. Since the previous survey, responding pension funds have increased...