Defined contribution plan members are contending with volatile equity markets, ultra-low interest rates and the threat of inflation as the country’s economy begins its tentative recovery. In the first half of 2020, equities took an almost round trip, dropping significantly in the first quarter and recovering to the point that most markets are in neutral […]
Benefits Canada is proud to announce the finalists of the 2020 Workplace Benefits Awards. While this year’s entry and judging process occurred during the coronavirus pandemic, almost 100 leading employers embraced the opportunity to share their organization’s innovative initiatives and strategies. In fact, Benefits Canada even introduced a new category — Coronavirus and benefits — which received the most entries, so we divided […]
For defined contribution plan members who were intending to retire in the first half of 2020, the market crash caused by the coronavirus may have upended those plans. Markets reached a trough in March, followed by some recovery, but with little clarity on what investments will do next, it’s a challenging time for plan members […]
Starbucks Canada is partnering with Morneau Shepell Ltd. to make LifeWorks available to all 24,000 Canadian employees and their family members. The digital wellness platform and app offers access to critical support services including uncapped, short-term 24/7 counselling sessions and financial advice. It also includes rewards and recognition, proactive advice and learning modules and assessment tools. […]
The ongoing impact of the coronavirus pandemic, coupled with the increased awareness and societal response to anti-Black racism, is continuing to affect Canadians’ mental health, according to the latest mental-health index by Morneau Shepell Ltd. With a score of negative 10, a very slight improvement on negative 11 last month, the index measures the improvement or […]
Diversified pooled fund managers had a positive second quarter of 2020, posting a median return of 11 per cent before management fees, according to the Morneau Shepell universe of pension manager’s pooled funds. Despite the strong results, the return was 1.2 per cent lower than the benchmark portfolio used by many pension plans. Further, the […]
Canadian defined benefit pension plans recovered some of their losses from the start of 2020 in the second quarter off the back of strong public equity gains, according to the Northern Trust Canada universe. With stimulus spending to tackle the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic taking effect in many countries, stock markets rebounded with double-digit […]
Mercer Canada is appointing Teresa Palandra as leader of its wealth business. Palandra will be in charge of investment, wealth management and retirement services and solutions for the Canadian market. She’s taking over from Jean-Philippe Provost as he moves on to lead the multinational plan sponsor client segment of the firm’s global business solutions team. A partner with […]
The coronavirus crisis may be a signal for some pension plan sponsors that it’s time to revisit their appetite for risk. A typical asset-liability study involves stochastic modelling to project thousands of future economic scenarios and see how a pension plan would react under those scenarios, says Dean Newell, vice-president at Actuarial Solutions Inc. Particularly, the […]
Even as Canada begins to reopen from coronavirus lockdown, uncertainty remains high and Canadians need employer mental-health supports more than ever. According to Morneau Shepell Ltd.’s latest mental-health index, Canadians’ mental-health score sat at negative 11 in June. The index measures the score based on a pre-2020 benchmark of 75. While June’s score was one […]