Canada has the fourth largest equity market in the world but accounts for just 4% of world equity markets, as measured by market capitalization within the MSCI World Index. So for Canadian investors, it makes sense to look abroad, said Catherine Jackman, vice-president with Phillips, Hager & North Investment Management. Yet investors typically allocate more to their home country equities than to their country’s share of the world equity market.
Investing in stocks has historically provided the potential growth investors need when accumulating assets as they prepare for retirement. In times of market volatility, however, an account’s drop in value can result in investors selling stocks at near-low levels and then buying them back at higher ones when markets recover.
Canadian plan sponsors aren’t yet ready to offer financial wellness programs and don’t believe there’s a need for them. They also don’t want to be responsible for giving debt management and financial advice to their employees.
Most plan sponsors agree on the importance of providing some form of qualified advice to plan members, which reflects a shift in risk appetite. Sponsors are realizing not providing any options for members to obtain qualified advice might actually be a bigger risk.
When DC plan sponsors use behavioural economics, it can create better outcomes for DC plan members.
The benefits industry has been doing the same thing for a long time. “The question we need to ask,” said Peter Gove, Green Shield Canada innovation leader, health management, “is, ‘Does it meet the modern challenges faced within healthcare today?’”
Mortality from cardiovascular disease is plummeting, but heart disease is still responsible for many adverse effects on individuals and employers.
When organizational health is optimized, employee health improves and people thrive—and their workplaces do, too.
It’s critical to focus on finding prostate cancer early, in order to save lives. “Early diagnosis greatly improves survival,” said Dr. Bryan Donnelly, staff urologist with Alberta Health Services and co-founder of the Calgary Prostate Cancer Centre.
The benefits industry has seen dramatic change in recent years, with wellness now front and centre in people’s minds. According to a survey by Ceridian, leading organizations have stated a wellness strategy to be one of the most critical factors in their future success.