Ontario’s provincially appointed judges are taking their own pension plan to court to prevent the fund from investing in derivatives.

In a notice of application filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto, the Association of Ontario Judges, which represents current and former judges of the Ontario Court of Justice, said the latest investment plan proposed by the Provincial Judges Pension Board would violate a previous agreement in place between the AOJ and the province to steer clear of derivative products and the “undue risk” the AOJ believes they generate.

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According to the document, which hasn’t been proven in court, the AOJ insisted on the prohibition in 2018 during negotiations with the Crown over a restructuring of the Provincial Judges Pension Plan. The judges’ group objected to a term of a trust agreement that would have authorized the pension board to trade and invest in a full suite of derivative products, including swaps, credit defaults, repurchases, forwards, futures, options, and other types of derivative contracts tied to various indices and equity or debt instruments.

The AOJ says the Crown accepted the removal of the provision,........

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