As if preparing for retirement wasn’t already a steep challenge, along comes the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the global economy, throwing up even more obstacles for capital accumulation plan members to maneuver. This year’s annual CAP Member Survey, supported by Actuarial Solutions Inc. and Morneau Shepell Ltd., fielded its questions between March 30 […]
Factor investing is a style of management that aims to harvest the common traits of a group or basket of securities that helps inform their risk and return potential. “When we talk about factors, we’re really talking about common characteristics that securities, such as stocks or bonds, share,” says Mo Haghbin, chief operating officer of […]
A new paper is evaluating how global retirement systems are faring in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and what reforms will be required to facilitate the retirements of future generations. The paper, ‘Building better retirement systems in the wake of the global pandemic,’ by Olivia Mitchell, a professor and executive director of the pension research council […]
To say things have changed since I wrote my last editorial is a massive understatement. Of course, the early rumblings of the coronavirus pandemic were already underway in the early weeks of 2020, but they were still very far removed from Canada’s reality. At the time of writing these words in mid-April, worldwide coronavirus cases […]
Alongside a struggling global economy, Canadian capital accumulation plan sponsors and members are facing unprecedented challenges. This year, Benefits Canada‘s annual CAP Member Survey fielded its questions between March 30 and April 1, reaching respondents as they were in the midst of coming to grips with the effects of the global coronavirus pandemic. As in […]
The Canada Revenue Agency is waiving the one per cent minimum required employer contribution on defined contribution pension plans for the remainder of 2020. Registered DC plan sponsors are required to contribute at least one per cent of all active members’ pensionable earnings each year. But in light of the coronavirus pandemic, the Minister of National […]
The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario has confirmed it will permit a suspension of employer contributions to defined contribution pension plans on a temporary basis. However, any change to either employer or employee contributions can only be on a go-forward basis and must be supported by an amendment to the plan text, said the […]
BMO Financial Group is highlighting a number of its health supports for employees during the coronavirus pandemic. The bank is hosting conference calls with physicians and mental-health professionals, which are recorded so employees can listen to them later on-demand. So far, 15,000 employees have participated, says Karen Collins, the bank’s chief talent officer. “It’s really […]
Before the coronavirus pandemic, 20 per cent of BMO Financial Group’s 45,000 employees were working from home on a fairly regular basis. Since March, that’s jumped to 80 per cent. “We have, of course, people who are in branches who need to go in and serve customers face to face, but we have schooled up our work […]
Coined by Canadian philosopher Marshall McLuhan, “the medium is the message” proposes that a medium, rather than the content it carries, is what shapes and controls “the scale and form of human association and action.” Whether they realize it or not, many plan sponsors have been following this philosophy in their communications strategies, as they […]