THE ECONOMICS OF MONEY,BANKING, AND FINANCIAL MARKETS 68

36 PA R T I TA B L E - Introduction Relative Shares of Financial Institutions and Pension Plans Regulated by OSFI (as of March 31, 2008) Type of Intermediary Number Total assets ($ millions) Percent (%) Chartered Banks Domestic Foreign bank subsidiaries Foreign bank branches 20 24 29 596 712 139 523 79 191 67.92 3.65 2.07 Trust and Loan Companies Bank-owned Other 31 39 243 163 23 292 6.36 0.61 21 152 0.55 Life Insurance Companies Canadian-incorporated Foreign branches 46 48 456 440 15 275 11.94 0.40 Fraternal Benefit Societies Canadian-incorporated Foreign branches 10 809 775 0.15 0.05 96 100 78 256 30 873 2.05 0.81 350 131 765 3.44 823 226 100.00 Cooperative Credit Associations Property and Casualty Insurance Companies Canadian-incorporated Foreign branches Pension Plans Total Source: Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions Canada (OSFI), 2007 2008 Annual Report that they can hold Currently, with about $472 billion of assets, they are among the largest of the contractual savings institutions These companies, numbering 196, insure their policyholders against loss from theft, fire, and accidents They are very much like life insurance companies, receiving funds through premiums for their policies, but they have a greater possibility of loss of funds if major disasters occur For this reason, they use their funds to buy more liquid assets than life insurance companies Their largest holding of assets is government bonds and debentures; they also hold corporate bonds and stocks PROPERTY AND CASUALTY (P&C) INSURANCE COMPANIES Private pension funds and provincial and municipal retirement funds provide retirement income in the form of annuities to employees who are covered by a pension plan Funds are acquired by contributions from employers and/or from employees, who either have a contribution automatically deducted from their paycheques or contribute voluntarily The largest asset holdings of pension funds are corporate bonds and stocks The establishment of pension funds has been actively encouraged by the federal government both through legislation requiring pension plans and through tax incentives to encourage contributions PENSION FUNDS AND GOVERNMENT RETIREMENT FUNDS