Volume 2 - ElectricCanadian.com

THE PENSION FUND 523This first actuarial examination was begun by Mr.Archibald Hewat of Edinburgh, who had, as already stated,drawn up the plan for the establishment of the fund, but thedifficulty of dealing with the matter satisfactorily and expeditiouslyby the slow and laborious plan of correspondence acrossthe ocean became increasingly evident. In the summer of 1904the secretary of the bank visited Edinburgh in order to discussthe position of the fund with Mr. Hewat, but just as soon asthis had been made clear, it was decided to discuss with anactuary in Canada the steps to be taken to put it on a properbasis for the future, and the provision to be made for theadditional benefits which it was desired to arrange. Accordingly,Mr. Thomas Bradshaw, F.I.A., F.A.S.A., actuary of theImperial Life Assurance Company of Toronto, was consulted.Under Mr. Bradshaw's guidance, arrangements were made toincrease the maximum pension from $2,800 to $3,500, and theamount of salary in respect of which contributions werepayable, from $4,000 to $5,000. The amount of the pensionwas hereafter to be based on the average salary for the tenyears preceding the date of retirement, instead of on the salaryat that date. The age for retirement was placed at sixty,unless the Board of Directors should, with the concurrence ofthe officer concerned, consent to retain him in the serviceafter that age. The financial problem was solved by thebank agreeing to become responsible for a special annualcontribution of $17,580 for thirty-five years, as well as for anannual contribution of $55 for every member of the fund, as onNovember 30, whether contributor or pensioner. The yearlysum paid by the bank out of profits was at once increased to$25,000, the balance necessary to make up the amount agreedon being taken from the Guarantee Fund. Provision was alsomade in the revised Constitution and Rules promulgatedApril 18, 1905, for placing the fund and its investments in thehands of trustees, but no appointment for this purpose wasmade until June 23, 1908, on which date the trust deed wasfinally approved by the Board of Directors and the first trustees