Getting plan members to think about their pension plans well before they are on the brink of retirement—and helping them to understand the true value of a defined contribution pension plan—aren’t easy tasks. But with the launch of four new videos last year and another this year, the B.C. Municipal Pension Plan has found a […]
Including alternative investments or global equities in a pension portfolio is becoming increasingly common, but that wasn’t always the case—and Carl Otto, chair emeritus of Cordiant Capital, has been credited with having played a significant role in changing that. In 1969, Otto co-founded Montreal Investment Management, a predecessor to AMI Partners Inc. (AMI), where he […]
The role of small businesses in increasing pension coverage for Canadian workers and pension reform were the main topic of discussion at the 2009 Canadian Pension & Benefits Institute Pension Summit held this week in Toronto. Opening the morning event was Neil Craig, an active participant in many pension industry advisory councils and leader of […]
Benefits Canada has released the results from its annual Survey of Capital Accumulation Plan Members and there were some surprises this year—both good and bad. Plan member behaviour Despite the downturn the economy has taken over the last year, 50% of survey respondents said they didn’t change their spending, savings or investing behaviour in anyway […]
Irene Klatt, vice-president, health insurance, with the Canadian Life and Health Insurance Association, talks about biologic drug therapies and where they fit into the group benefits world. Are biologic drug therapies usually covered by group benefits plans? They are a pretty recognized therapy. For example, people may not think of insulin as a biologic. Some […]
Little Box is a privately held company, but its president and CEO, Robert Meggy, doesn’t keep too many secrets from his employees. “We run open-book management,” he explains. “We have an all-employee meeting every month, and one of the things we do is a review of the financial income statements and balance sheet. So, good […]
While pension administration outsourcing is common practice for a number of medium- to large size plan sponsors, or those that do not have the in-house expertise to administer plans, Morneau Sobeco is proposing a concept that takes pension administration to the next level—total pension outsourcing (TPO). TPO, as Morneau calls it, is a pension administration […]
The defined contribution (DC) market in Canada has some growing up to do when compared with markets in the U.S. and the U.K. In fact, according to Statistics Canada, only 37% of the country’s pension plans are DC. As more employers close their defined benefit (DB) plans and offer up DC alternatives, a growth spurt […]
The federal government has put a plan into motion to keep older workers in the workforce longer—a move that it hopes will lessen the future labour shortage when the baby boomers retire. The Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has announced that as of 2012, Canadians will be allowed to draw their Canada Pension Plan (CPP) […]
G&K Services, a uniform supplier, ranked No. 15 on our Employees’ Choice: Top 30 Benefits and Pension Plan list. Deen Maharaj, director of HR, Canada, with G&K Services, gives insight into cost-effective ways for employers to keep their employees happy and engaged. What benefits does G&K Services offer outside of its standard benefits? “A lot […]