Struggling to engage your plan members? Michele Leroux, manager of pensions and benefits with McMaster University, and Tracey Riccardi, manager of compensation and benefits with Caesars Windsor, shared their advice and best practices in member communications at a session moderated by Marcia McDougall of Hewitt Associates at the 2009 ACPM National Conference in Montreal today. […]
For me, September has a very specific association. When I start seeing TV ads for stationery supplies and fall clothing “essentials,” I always have an urge to run out and buy a new pack of highlighters. There’s a shift as subtle as the change in season, signalling that the relaxed days of summer are over […]
The National Post recently published a commentary, “Profiting from green hysteria,” on a seminar organized by the Investment Funds Institute of Canada on opportunities to make money from climate change. “The problem,” writes the columnist, “is that all the investment potential derives from restrictive legislation and/or subsidies, that is, from force and favour, salted with […]
Tight Squeeze August 01, 2009 | Alyssa Hodder Employers today are facing more than just the usual pension and benefits issues. Cost control isn’t optional—for many, it’s a matter of survival. Are they turning to their consultants for help or pulling back to save on costs? Hard Lessons In this unprecedented economic environment, employers face […]
HOOPP fared well during the downturn. To what do you attribute this? I attribute it to a change in focus when we moved to a liability-driven investment (LDI) format. When we did stress testing, we found that our existing portfolio—under very benign scenarios—would exceed the board’s risk tolerance. We also found that, projecting our liabilities […]
Work, family, finances…sometimes, these demands can be too much to handle. How can employers help employees manage stress more effectively? For many organizations, the HR implications of this downturn have been profound. Revenues are low and companies need to cut costs, so wage and hiring freezes are common. Downsizing and layoffs are also widespread. But […]
Rightly or wrongly, credit rating agencies have been widely blamed for their role in the financial crisis. How will this affect how they are used—and how they are regulated—in the future? At a Capital Markets Institute session, “The Future of Credit Rating Agencies: Regulation and Accountability,” Stephane Rousseau, associate professor and chair in business law […]
When a particular pension or benefits topic is making waves in the media, I often hear from PR firms. If I had a dollar for every time someone has called or emailed me recently saying, “How about a story on risk management?”…well, it certainly wouldn’t make up for the losses in my mutual funds, but […]
Pension plans have been assuming too much risk—a major factor in the funding crisis that many plans are experiencing today, said Malcolm Hamilton, a pension consultant with Mercer, at a recent CFA event in Toronto. The events of the past 12 to 14 months have caused many pension plans to become significantly underfunded. Solvency funded […]
Many Companies have changed their priorities due to the recession, but they shouldn’t neglect their most valuable assets. I recently attended the Xeffects conference in Toronto on women and mental health in the workplace. After a morning of informative sessions, I wrote a brief article on the event, ensuring that it would be posted on […]