A message from our

President & Chief Executive Officer

Jeff Wendling: President & Chief Executive Officer / Chief Investment Officer

I want to assure you that the Plan is strong and we will continue to be here for our members and employers.

As HOOPP marked its 60th anniversary in 2020, delivering on our pension promise to members felt more vital than ever. Through an exceptionally challenging year, we remained committed to providing you with the pension you have earned and the peace of mind you deserve.

In my first year as CEO, I am pleased to report that despite global economic and market instability, our Plan remained well-positioned with a funded status of 119%. In other words, for every $1 we owe in pensions, the Plan has $1.19 in assets.

Here, you’ll find more details about our Plan performance along with highlights from across the organization. While there may be more economic uncertainty ahead in 2021, I want to assure you that the Plan is strong, and we will continue to be here for our members and employers.

On behalf of all HOOPP employees, I want to thank our members who have been, and continue to be, on the frontlines of this devastating COVID-19 pandemic. Your extraordinary efforts are seen and felt every day and are greatly appreciated. We are proud to be able to serve you.

Regards,

Jeff Wendling
President & Chief Executive Officer / Chief Investment Officer

Plan performance

We entered 2020 in a robust position and continued to perform well through a challenging year, thanks in part to our liability-driven investing (LDI) strategy, growing member and employer base, and ability to smoothly transition to a remote work environment. This success is reflected in our strong investment return and funded status, and increase in net assets, all of which help us continue delivering on our pension promise to members.


Funded status

119%


Net assets

104

billion


Rate of return for 2020

11.42%


10-year annualized rate of return

11.16%


All reported figures in this document are as at Dec. 31, 2020, unless otherwise noted.

Investments

By evolving our LDI approach and finding innovative ways to diversify and protect our portfolios, our investment team successfully navigated the shutdown of the global economy and, near the end of the first quarter of 2020, one of the biggest stock market declines in history. The result? A strong investment return and strategies that are well-positioned to face ongoing market uncertainty.

The simple act of caring is heroic. - Edward Albert,  actor/writer
Nurse and child

2020 highlights included:

  • We continued to update our LDI strategy to adapt to changing market conditions and the low-interest-rate environment.
  • Our bond holdings helped protect the Fund as interest rates declined and, along with other investment strategies, contributed to returns.
  • Our liquidity management capabilities and strong cash position helped our investment team seize significant buying opportunities to further strengthen the Fund.
  • We hired our first Chief Risk Officer and further enhanced our risk management systems to help us continue to prudently manage risk as the Fund grows in size and complexity.

Sustainable investing

We remain committed to sustainable growth by integrating environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into our strategies and investment decisions. This allows us to deliver on our pension promise in a way that aligns with our values. Here are a few of our key accomplishments:

  • We released a joint statement with eight of Canada’s leading pension plan investment managers, calling on companies to provide relevant and consistent ESG information that enables us to allocate capital to deliver long-term sustainable value.
  • At the Reuters Events Responsible Business Awards 2020, HOOPP was recognized with a special mention for our transformative approach to embed climate change risk exposure assessment into the management of our real estate portfolio.
To the world you may be one person. But to one person, you may be the world. - Dr. Seuss,  children's author
Hospital staff

Members and employers

To help support our members and employers through an unprecedented year, we aimed to provide them with assurance and peace of mind related to their pension and the health of the Plan. While making the most of technology, we used our personal-service model to provide information, education, and support to our members and when they needed it.

One of the deep secrets of life is that all that is really worth doing is what we do for others. - Lewis Carroll, writer
Nurse

 

We also made Plan changes to provide flexibility to our members as they dealt with challenges resulting from the pandemic. These included:

  • providing service in the Plan, at no cost, for members on a new unpaid provincial emergency leave
  • extending deadlines related to buybacks and disability benefits
  • extending the timeline to make pension contributions following a leave of absence

In addition, we made a Plan change to how commuted values are calculated to help ensure our Plan’s long-term sustainability.

To help our retired and deferred members’ pensions keep up with inflation, we provided a cost-of-living adjustment that increased their pensions by 2.25% (which became effective April 1, 2020).



During the year, our membership and the number of employers that offer the Plan increased.

Total number of members:

398,324

(an increase of 17,243 from the end of 2019)

Active members

248,260

Active members

Retired members

114,300

Retired members

Deferred members

35,764

Deferred members

Total number of employers:

614

(an increase of 20 from the end of 2019)

Hospitals

141

Hospitals

Foundations

72

Foundations

Community health centres

65

Community health centres

Service providers

85

Service providers

Small healthcare organizations

167

Small healthcare organizations

Family health

84

Family health

People and culture

We foster and maintain a diverse, high-performance workplace culture that inspires our employees to do their best in support of our members and employers. Our core values – professional, accountable, collaborative, compassionate, and trustworthy – are the foundation for the service we provide.

In 2020, we found ways to foster that culture while supporting the transition to a remote-work environment. We also proudly made progress on several initiatives related to diversity and inclusion that will help continue to strengthen our organization:

Compassion brings us to a stop, and for a moment we rise above ourselves. - Mason Cooley, professor
Lab Technician

Diversity and inclusion highlights:

  • Our CEO signed the BlackNorth Initiative pledge, which is dedicated to removing systemic barriers and increasing Black representation at senior management and executive levels in corporate Canada.
  • We launched a range of Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to help us connect, support and learn from staff members with shared interests and life experiences, toward fostering an equitable, diverse and inclusive workplace.
  • We continued to build on relationships with recruitment organizations that work with diverse communities.

Top employer award

HOOPP is proud to be recognized as one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers of 2021 by Canada’s Top 100 Employers.

Greater Toronto's Top 2021 employers
leaf


For more information on our results, view our 2020 Annual Report.

We want to hear from you!

Your feedback helps us improve our website, member news articles, social media channels, and other communications. We encourage you to complete our online survey to tell us what you think of our 2020 Highlights. You could win your choice of an Oculus Quest 2 Advanced All-In-One Virtual Reality Headset (64 GB) or an iRobot Roomba 675 Vacuum.

Take the survey

Contest closes on June 30, 2021.

They may forget their name, but they will never forget how you made them feel. - Maya Angelou, poet
Nurse



For more information on our results, view our 2020 Annual Report.

We want to hear from you!

Your feedback helps us improve our website, member news articles, social media channels, and other communications. We encourage you to complete our online survey to tell us what you think of our 2020 Highlights. You could win your choice of an Oculus Quest 2 Advanced All-In-One Virtual Reality Headset (64 GB) or an iRobot Roomba 675 Vacuum.

Take the survey

Contest closes on June 30, 2021.