June 2023 Edition

The 5-second summary: Learn how to identify your financially challenged employees so you can guide them towards financial empowerment.

Not being able to pay your mortgage or credit card payments, having to cut back on groceries or, worse yet, insolvency are all daunting situations that can happen at any time, to anyone.

While every journey is different, the current cost of living and rising inflation are adding to the financial problems for Canadians. A survey conducted by Desjardins in March 2022 revealed that 1 in 5 people are experiencing financial difficulties.^{[ Note 1 ]} Not surprisingly, it’s people in their working years (ages 31–49) and those in pre-retirement who are more likely to be experiencing difficulties meeting their financial commitments.^{[ Note 1 ]}

Often a taboo subject, financial problems are perceived as shameful on both a personal and professional level. Almost half of Canadian workers also admit that stress related to personal finances has had an impact on their performance at work.^{[ Note 2 ]}

How to identify financial problems

It’s therefore important to know how to identify the warning signs of these types of concerns so you can refer and provide these individuals with the best possible support. Here are some of the warning signs:

• Increased distraction, presenteeism and absenteeism

When you’re struggling to make ends meet, it’s common to have insomnia, which means mental and physical fatigue. As the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada points out, this fatigue can then affect the quality and quantity of work and result in distractions, lower motivation, or mistakes. The Agency also mentions that an increase in sick leave and repeated disabilities could also be a sign of financial turmoil.^{[ Note 2 ]}

• Deferred retirement

The transition to retirement is stressful for those who haven’t saved enough.^{[ Note 1 ]} These people may even delay retirement because they simply cannot afford to stop working. A phenomenon that we’re seeing more and more in the country.^{[ Note 3 ]}

• Requests for salary advances

Lastly, a request for a salary advance is a clear sign of financial issues. As this is often a difficult process for the person requesting it, it’s important to react with a caring attitude. They may also appreciate, for example, grocery coupons, which can help with daily expenses.^{[ Note 1 ]}

Turning discomfort into financial wellness

Breaking the taboo around money issues isn’t easy, but organizations can play a supportive role. On the front line, managers can support their staff in a proactive, non-intrusive and non-judgmental manner. This means listening to your staff, understanding them, and referring them to support services offered by the organization.

Affected employees can then be helped to improve their financial literacy using tools offered under their plan, such as webinars on savings or debt management.

They could also be encouraged to set up an emergency fund in a TFSA or consult a financial planner to develop a debt consolidation strategy.

Lastly, in general, when dealing with this type of situation in your organization, it’s always best to be people-focused and caring.

If you have any questions about adding a group TFSA to your group retirement savings program, talk to your client relationship manager.

The 5-second summary: Regular contributions and employer matching contributions are the subjects of the 2 newest campaigns that emphasize how easy it is to save and your plans’ many benefits. Also, the Pre-approved campaign was enhanced to increase the message’s relevance and plan member engagement.

The Employer match campaign invites plan members to boost their contributions to maximize their employer’s match on an annual basis. This campaign targets plan members who’ve completed their enrolment, and whose group offers contribution rate management.

The Regular contributions campaign aims to develop the habit of saving regularly and to emphasize that it’s not the amount that matters, but how consistently you save—“to set it and forget it.” This campaign, with a yearly recurrence, targets plan members who’ve completed their enrolment.

Two messages, two different targets:

• Plan members whose plans offer contribution rate management will receive a message with a more specific call-to-action based on their situation. Only people whose contribution fields are empty or have a value of $0 will receive an invitation to set up regular contributions.
• Plan members whose plans don’t offer contribution rate management will receive a general, mainly educational message focused on the importance and the tangible benefits of automating their savings using regular contributions.

Enhancement to the Pre-approved campaign

To double down on message clarity and relevancy, and to increase plan member action, adjustments have been made to the PA (Pre-approved) campaign.

• Addition of the plan sponsor name
• Identification of the plan(s) the plan member has already enrolled in (only if applicable), as well as their plan(s) with the PA status, in which we’re asking them to enrol
• Addition of yearly recurrence – the PA campaign, which stops after 90 days and after two reminders, is now sent to plan members whose system status is PA 365 days following the reception of the first PA invitation email

Do you want your plan members to receive our automated communications?

Contact your client relationship manager now, and we’ll set it up.

The 5-second summary: A new type of online course will soon be added to our Education Centre, namely, self-service courses that your plan members can take at their own pace and at any time.

First self-service course

The Debt 1.0 self-service course will be available in the in the Education Centre via dfs.ca/GroupPlanMember or in the Omni Desjardins app in the coming days. This course aims to provide solutions to better manage debt. It’s an interactive video that follows a fictional character struggling with certain financial issues.

More self-service courses to come

Your plan members will be able to take charge of their financial future and further develop their financial knowledge by connecting to the self-service course of their choice, at their convenience. This type of training is more flexible, as it can be accessed at any time. Stay tuned for more news!

The live webinars continue

Keep encouraging your plan members to register for our live webinars hosted by our financial education advisors. You can print the flyer or upload it to your intranet to promote the live webinars that will be offered until September 2023.

8.5 x 11 flyer (PDF, 225 KB)Opens in a new window

A lot of financial information is at your plan members’ fingertips. Encourage them to take charge of their finances.

The 5-second summary: Learn how to send termination dates online quickly and easily, and how to distinguish between a termination and a temporary layoff.

Delays in sending us employment termination^{[ Note 4 ]} dates may result in processing delays and concerns for plan members. That’s why it’s important that you send us the information as soon as someone stops working for you or retires.

It’s quick and easy!

1. Log on to the Plan sponsor site via dfs.ca/plansponsor
2. Once on the home page, click one of these tiles:

Participant management, if you only have a few terminations

File transfer (demographic file), if you have multiple terminations and prefer to send us an Excel spreadsheet

Note: If you’ve submitted an employment termination date in error, please contact us.

Difference between temporary layoff and termination

* For other types of plans, you may decide, at your discretion, to report a temporary layoff as a termination of employment, subject to your obligation under a collective agreement, an employment contract or applicable labour standards.

From an administrative perspective, a termination of employment is the equivalent of a plan membership termination. Termination option statements are generated, providing plan members with options including:

• remaining in the plan, when permitted
• transferring out of the plan, but remaining with Desjardins Insurance
• transferring to another plan or to the financial institution of their choice
• cashing-in a portion or all of their accumulated savings, when permitted

A temporary layoff doesn’t necessarily result in termination of plan membership. For Defined Contribution Pension Plans, Quebec Simplified Pension Plans and voluntary retirement savings plans, you shouldn't send us a termination date unless the period of interruption exceeds the prescribed time period, as indicated in your plan text.

Additional information

• For DC and SPP

When does a temporary layoff become a termination of plan membership? The answer varies by legislation (provincial or federal), but it generally varies between 54 weeks and 24 months

• For DC only

If you have several temporary layoffs, this will certainly result in lower contribution amounts that should have been made to the plan. You’ll need to justify to us the reduction in contributions. In some provinces where it’s required to provide expected contributions, you’ll need to provide a formal explanation (for example, Form 7 in Ontario or similar forms in British Columbia, Alberta, and Nova Scotia).

If you have any questions, please contact your client relationship manager or call Plan Sponsor Services at 1-888-510-4762.

The 5-second summary: Avoid unnecessary complications by informing us in advance.

When you rehire an employee, regardless of the reason (seasonal layoffs, a competitive labour market, etc.), don’t forget to contact your administrator or Plan Sponsor Services before you start remitting contributions for them. If you don’t, the remittance for all your employees will be delayed.

If we aren’t given advanced warning, we’ll need to contact you to understand the situation and to update the rehired employee’s status in our system. By letting us know ahead of time, you can avoid potential complications and your remittance will be processed on time.

Please also remind the rehired employee to update their file (beneficiaries, investment instructions, online profile, etc.), and, depending on the plan, to complete a new enrolment form after 1 year.

To prevent delays, contact your administrator or send a note by email. We’ll do the rest!

The 5-second summary: Aligning with industry best practices, we’re making changes to the segregated funds operating expenses on our platform.

To align with industry best practices, Desjardins Insurance will change the allocation methodology for segregated fund operating expenses to a uniform segregated fund operating fee across all investment funds on our platform. This approach is consistent with industry best practices where these fees range from 0.03% to 0.05%.

Segregated fund operating expenses incurred by Desjardins Insurance include, but are not limited to, activities such as audits, unit value calculations, legal and custodial fees, production of financial statements and other reports or filings. The operating fees are applied directly to the segregated fund prior to the calculation of the unit value.

As we do every year in July, segregated fund operating expenses disclosed in new pricing proposals and on the plan member website will reflect the new estimated fund operating expenses for 2023.

Operating expenses will continue to be reviewed and adjusted annually to reflect an up-to-date estimate of the current year’s expenses.

If you have any questions, please contact your local business development manager or your client relationship manager.

The 5-second summary: The MFS International Equity and J.P. Morgan Global Equity funds will be launched on July 21, 2023.

Desjardins Insurance is proud to announce the launch of the MFS International Equity and J.P. Morgan Global Equity funds on its group retirement savings platform on July 21, 2023. These funds, which are described below, enhance our foreign equity offering.

About the MFS International Equity Fund

This fund is actively managed by MFS Investment Management and aims to provide long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in equity securities of companies located outside of Canada and the United States.

The fund manager invests in securities that represent the most attractive opportunities to provide above-average, durable growth while also being attractively valued. It relies on individual stock selection as the primary source of added value, favouring high quality companies identified through the firm’s global research platform.

About the J.P. Morgan Global Equity Fund

This fund is actively managed by J.P. Morgan Asset Management, based on the Global Select ACWI strategy, and aims to provide long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in equity securities of companies globally.

The fund’s investment process focuses on bottom-up stock selection within each industry/sector based on fundamental research. This approach leverages the firm’s research network to identify the most attractively priced securities on a global sector basis.

For more information about these new funds, don’t hesitate to contact your client relationship manager.

The 5-second summary: The fund’s composition will be modified July 10, 2023.

Following the governance and due diligence process for the funds offered by Desjardins Insurance to its Group retirement savings clients, the decision was made to adjust the composition of the Multi-Manager Emerging Markets Fund (the “Fund”). This adjustment, which primarily results from the recent non-recommendation of the Desjardins SocieTerra Emerging Markets Equity Fund, will take place July 10, 2023.

What are the details of this change?

The Desjardins SocieTerra Emerging Markets Equity Fund, for which Comgest acts as sub-manager, will be removed from the Fund’s structure which is currently made up of 4 underlying funds. In order to maintain appropriate diversification between investment approaches, the removed fund will be replaced by the Desjardins Emerging Markets Fund, which will be sub-managed by Ninety One starting July 10, 2023. This new fund is defined by a well-diversified core strategy where the investment approach seeks out high-quality companies at attractive valuations.

The Fund’s target allocation between the 4 underlying mandates will also be modified slightly as part of the change, so as to attain the desired diversification level. The details of the modification to the target allocation are presented in the following table:

Fund target allocation – Comparison between current target and new target as of July 10, 2023

It should be noted that the present modification will not have any impact on the Fund’s investment objective or investment fee. It’s also expected that no tax implications will result from the change for plan members holding the Fund in a non-registered savings plan.

For more information about this change, don’t hesitate to contact your client relationship manager.

The 5-second summary: Michelle O’Keeffe will leave the firm in June 2023.

Baillie Gifford

On April 28, 2023, Baillie Gifford announced that Michelle O’Keeffe, Impact Analyst on the Positive Change team, would be leaving the firm in June 2023 to begin a PhD in ESG (carbon accounting) at the University of Edinburgh.

Michelle is part of Positive Change’s 5-member portfolio construction group. She’ll be temporarily replaced by Apricot Wilson, Impact Analyst on the same team, until Baillie Gifford hires her permanent replacement by the end of 2023.

Michelle was 1 of 2 impact analysts with decision-making authority over portfolio holdings. The quality and expertise of her permanent replacement will be closely monitored.

The Investment Solutions team from Desjardins Insurance Group retirement savings believes that this change has a moderate impact on the Desjardins SocieTerra Positive Change (Baillie Gifford) Fund. We’ll monitor the situation over the coming quarters and provide updates as needed.