At Benefits Canada’s Defined Contribution Plan Summit in Montreal in February, member engagement and communication were a clear focus of many of the presentations. Case studies presented at the conference provided a number of solutions. Larry Schmidt, director of human resources at U.S.-based Searles Valley Minerals Inc., noted his company used automatic enrolment and escalation […]
Finding ways to leverage the engagement of plan members in order to optimize their experiences, decision-making and outcomes was a recurring theme at Benefits Canada’s Defined Contribution Plan Summit this February. One way to boost outcomes is by considering the growing science of financial attention, according to Jane Henshaw, head of digital research at the […]
While improving a defined contribution pension plan may appear to be simple, ensuring employees fully understand the changes is a crucial part of the exercise, said Ian Baines, head of pensions at Britain’s Nationwide Building Society. Baines told the story of his company’s pension changes at Benefits Canada‘s 2018 Defined Contribution Plan Summit in February. […]
Transitioning to a defined contribution plan from a defined benefit arrangement is hard enough during the best of times. But when the organization is a company like Coca-Cola Ltd., size can be an added complication. “Encouraging employees to take action is not easy,” said Martha Callum, senior director for total rewards at Coca-Cola Refreshments Canada, […]
While saving for retirement is an incredibly long journey, visualizing the entire process is a great way to get to better outcomes, according to Neil Walton, head of investment solutions at Schroder Investment Management Ltd. “Start with the end in mind,” Walton told participants at Benefits Canada’s Defined Contribution Plan Summit. “That means reviewing projected […]
Participants at Benefits Canada’s Defined Contribution Plan Summit spent two days listening to a large roster of speakers offer up solutions on everything from communication tips about plan changes to strategies for allocating members’ assets. So what were some of the key learnings? Janice Holman, defined contribution practice leader at Eckler Ltd., helped sum up some […]
Moderators: Nadia Darwish, vice-president of development, marketing and investment strategy; and Karrina Dusablon, vice-president of business development, client relationship and member experience, at Desjardins Insurance Topic: Balancing a human and digital approach to plan member experiences Augmented reality, big data, robo-advisors and artificial intelligence are playing growing roles in the digital era. By 2020, Canadians […]
Moderators: Christine van Staden, regional vice-president, group customer; and George Ng, senior account executive, group customer, at Great-West Life Assurance Co. Canada is an increasingly diverse country. Canadians live across six time zones, comprise four workplace generations (traditionalists, baby boomers, generation Xers and millennials) and include more than 200 ethnic origins. The number of speakers […]
Moderators: Erica Hall, assistant vice-president for client relations, group retirement solutions; and Sharon Seifried, national vice-president for corporate accounts, group retirement solutions, at Manulife Financial Corp. While a significant portion of Canadians are in poor financial health, most don’t like to talk about money, particularly those with challenges in the area. As a result, addressing […]
Moderators: Mazen Shakeel, vice-president of market development, group retirement services; and Jean-François Pelletier, regional vice-president for group retirement services, Quebec, at Sun Life Financial The defined contribution pension plan industry is operating in a shifting economic environment. Expectations related to future returns are falling, and plan members are living longer. Focusing exclusively on improving net returns […]