Benefits Canada is pleased to announce the finalists of the 2024 Workplace Benefits Awards. Across nearly 100 entries in 12 categories, leading Canadian employers demonstrated their accomplishments in supporting their employees’ physical, mental and financial well-being. The winners will be announced on Friday, Oct. 18 at the King Edward Hotel in Toronto during the 2024 Healthy Outcomes Conference, an in-person event intended for employers […]
The Alberta Investment Management Corp. says there has been declining support for shareholder proposals linked to environmental and social factors, while support has increased for governance proposals centred around shareholder rights, according to the investment organization’s latest stewardship report. It cited increased scrutiny of ESG issues as a factor in the decline and noted the AIMCO […]
The end of the federal government’s real return bond program will deprive institutional investors and pension plan members of a valuable investment tool that can help protect against inflation, according to a new report by the C.D. Howe Institute. It found a majority of Canada’s largest institutional investors are interested in investing in real return bonds and […]
A third (34 per cent) of U.S. employees aged 50 and older are phasing into retirement, according to a new survey by WTW. The survey, which polled 10,000 U.S. employees working at medium- and large-sized private sector companies, found among workers who are currently phasing into retirement, six in 10 (61 per cent) have reduced […]
U.S. employers’ health benefits costs are expected to increase to nearly eight per cent for 2025, the highest amount in more than a decade, according to a new survey by Business Group on Health. The survey, which polled 125 large employers, found they’re planning to continue to absorb much of the increases at least for […]
The Alberta Investment Management Corp. is reporting a net return of 5.4 per cent for the first half of 2024. During the six-month period ending June 30, 2024, the AIMCo’s total assets under management were $168.9 billion. The investment organization’s balanced fund — a composite of client accounts that invest in money market and fixed income, […]
Half (50 per cent) of U.S. employees say they’d consider looking for a new job if their employer reduced remote and hybrid work flexibility, a percentage that increases to 61 per cent among generation Z workers, according to a new survey by Eagle Hill Consulting. The survey, which polled more than 1,400 employees, found 67 […]
U.K. Chancellor Rachel Reeves met with some of Canada’s biggest public sector pension plans this month, as the country looks to reform its public pension system, according to a report by the Financial Times. Reeves is pursuing the creation of a pension model that would allow the U.K.’s local government pension scheme — worth about […]
U.S. employers are projecting health benefits costs to increase by eight per cent for 2025, up from seven per cent in 2023, according to a new survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. It found employers cited several factors in rising costs, including catastrophic claims (20 per cent, up from 19 per cent […]
The Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec is investing $35 million in a new energy transition fund from Quebec-based equity firm MacKinnon Bennett & Co. The investment is part of a larger $145 million commitment alongside the Canada Growth Fund, Investissement Québec and BDC Capital. The fund will target growth-stage businesses commercializing emission reduction […]