In 2021, Foresters Financial redesigned its retirement and benefits plans to be more flexible, relevant and competitive, modernizing the plans with the recognition that employees have varying financial priorities. “Overall, we have a very diverse employee base,” says Ken Adams, the financial services company’s vice-president of total rewards. “Someone who is a few years out […]
The vast majority of U.S. employers are eyeing enhancements to their defined contribution pension plans in an effort to boost their employees’ retirement security and financial well-being, according to a new survey by WTW. It found 75 per cent of DC plan sponsors made a change to their plans in the last two years and […]
In 2020, LifeLabs Inc. embarked on a year-long journey to redesign its group registered retirement savings plan and deferred profit-sharing plan to make them less cumbersome, easier to administer and to boost engagement among employees. Under the original plans, which were in place for more than 10 years and linked to employees’ years of service, […]
Target-benefit plans are being hampered by a disconnect between how they’re regulated and how they’re managed, according to a new report for the C.D. Howe Institute. In the report, Barry Gros, a retired actuary and chair of the pension board at the University of British Columbia’s staff pension plan, reviewed how target-benefit plans are managed, how […]
Higher investment fees in capital accumulation plans can potentially set an individual’s retirement date back by four years, according to Mercer’s latest retirement readiness barometer. The analysis found a person paying the median retail fee (1.9 per cent) would be retirement ready at age 70. On the other hand, someone paying the median fee available […]
Canadian Forest Products Ltd.’s new financial wellness program may have originated as the brainchild of its defined contribution pension plan committee, but it’s just as applicable to its defined benefit plan members — and the organization chose to roll it out for all employees. When you have broad financial wellness topics, it’s fine, but when […]
The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions and the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario are putting forward six recommendations for strengthening the Canadian Association of Pension Supervisory Authority’s capital accumulation plan guidelines. In a webinar hosted in November 2021, the regulators shared the outcomes of its technical advisory committee and solicited feedback from the […]
At the start of every new year, many employees resolve to improve their fitness — emotionally, financially and/or physically. One pretty easy way that employers can help workers shape up (financially) this year is by offering a workplace tax-free savings account. A knowledge gap still needs to be filled when it comes to TFSAs — […]
New Brunswick’s new unclaimed property regime, which came into force on Jan. 1, 2022 and is the fourth such provincial regime in Canada, will finally allow defined benefit pension plan sponsors with unlocatable or missing members to fully windup their plans. The governing legislation, the Unclaimed Property Act, received Royal Assent in March 2021, but […]
Among 2021’s most popular pension stories on BenefitsCanada.com, Benefits Canada and the Canadian Institutional Investment Network’s rankings of the top 100 defined benefit plans and top 50 defined contribution plans were nearly the bookends to the top 10. 2021 Top 100 Pension Funds Report: DB plans shining bright amid pandemic clouds CPP maximum pensionable earnings rising […]