The assets of Canada’s top 10 capital accumulation plan providers increased by 12.9 per cent over the previous year, from roughly $250,366 million at June 30, 2022 to $282,772 million at June 30, 2023, according to the latest report by the Canadian Institutional Investment Network.
The CIIN, which is a companion site to Benefits Canada and the Canadian Investment Review, produces the annual report as a ranking of the country’s leading CAP suppliers. It features the latest data, which is collected through an annual survey, alongside the previous year’s figures to frame how the industry is evolving.
Sun Life Financial Inc. took the top spot in the latest report, with total CAP assets of $101,834 million in 2023 compared to $90,661 million in 2022, representing a 12.3 per cent year-over-year increase.
The top five was rounded out by Manulife Financial Corp., the Canada Life Assurance Co., Desjardins Insurance and Telus Health.
The report, which also ranks CAP suppliers by specific categories, found Sun Life, Manulife and Canada Life were the top three suppliers, respectively, of group registered retirement savings plans, deferred profit-sharing plans and defined contribution pension plans.
Among CAP plans, group RRSPs saw the largest year-over-year increase (14.4 per cent), rising from roughly $115,534 million at June 30, 2022 to $132,187 million at June 30, 2023. This growth is partly attributable to the flexibility and ease of administration of group RRSPs, says Reece Cretton, sales director for group retirement solutions in Western Canada at Canada Life.
Read: 2023 CAP Member Survey: How CAPs are evolving to address changing financial priorities
“[With group RRSPs] it’s not just about saving towards retirement, but you’ve got the ability to use the lifelong learning plan as well as the first-time home-buyer incentive — it’s about making sure that we’re meeting the needs of all the different [plan] members at the different stages of their life.”
With labour market challenges and economic volatility likely to continue in 2024, CAPs are also supporting employers’ talent attraction and retention efforts as well as plan members’ financial well-being.
“Employers [are increasingly seeing] the benefit of offering a [retirement] savings plan,” he says. “Not only does it make their total rewards program more attractive, it demonstrates to employees that financial well-being is important, not only while they’re working for the employer, but also in retirement.”
Download a PDF of the 2023 CAP Suppliers Report.