June 2021 Edition

This spring, the Group retirement savings (GRS) team at Desjardins Insurance is sharing a reinvented approach to retirement at various industry events.

At the Benefits and Pension Summit External link. Opens in a new window. organized by Benefits Canada on May 19, Jennifer Katzsch, Regional Vice-President, Western Canada, alongside Lancelot Lambert, Director of Business Development, Toronto, presented 6 indicators to watch in order to promote a post-pandemic recovery. They spoke about the resources that Canadian employers can use to help their employees recover physically, mentally and financially, while reconciling economic recovery and employee well-being.

On June 2, during a Benefits and Pension Monitor webinar External link. Opens in a new window., Gabriela Jeffrey, Regional Sales Director, and Julie McDermott, Senior Client Relationship Manager, presented our reinvented approach to group savings. Group plans must reinvent themselves to remain an effective benefit, reflect the reality of today’s employees, and help them achieve financial wellness. By using case studies, our presenters illustrated how group plans have to incorporate savings goals other than retirement, combine short-term motivation and long-term planning, and support each employee on the path to financial empowerment.

Several members of the Group retirement savings team also had the occasion to present these topics during French virtual industry events.

Our 4 draws were held on May 11 and June 9 (2 on each day).

Congratulations to our 4 winners who each received $1,000:

Samuel Leger from Cap-Pelé, New Brunswick
Skye C. Mullen from Plympton, Nova Scotia
François Labrosse from Crabtree, Quebec
Kieran O’Sullivan from Toronto, Ontario

Communications in June

On June 2, your plan members received an invitation to attend one of our online Education Centre webinars, including the new course Bring your dreams to life with goal-based savings. At the end of June, your plan members who don’t have a designated beneficiary on file will receive an email inviting them to review their beneficiary designation.

For more information about the contest, read the full contest rules (PDF, 228 KB) External link. Opens in a new window..

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 have to contact you to find out what’s going on. By letting us know ahead of time, you can avoid potential complications and your remittance will be processed on time.

To prevent delays, contact your administrator or send a note to grs_plansponsor@dfs.ca. We’ll do the rest!

The Missing Information Report lists any information missing from our records that we need for plan administration purposes. It’s essential that this information be sent to us so that we can complete our files, perform financial transactions for plan members and issue tax slips.

Where can I find the Missing Information Report?

It’s automatically posted every month on the Plan sponsor services Opens in a new window. website. To view it, go to the Report centre tile and open the Missing Information Report tab. It’s available for all types of plans, except defined benefit pension plans (DBPP), investment only plans (IO) and individual pension plans (IPP).

You can send the missing information in one of two ways

• Log on to the website Opens in a new window., click Participant management and provide the missing information.

OR

• Send us a demographic file with the missing information. We’ll update your records within 30 days.

For any questions about the report, contact your plan administrator or call Plan Sponsor Services at 1-888-510-4762.

The holiday schedule for the Customer Contact Centre and Plan Sponsor Services is as follows:

Financial transactions

On June 24, financial transactions submitted by plan members online or by phone by 4 pm (ET) will be processed using the rates and unit values in force at market close.

On July 1, financial transactions submitted by plan members online will be processed using the rates and unit values in force at market close on July 2, as the markets will be closed for Canada Day.

Plan members and plan sponsors can perform transactions at any time via their respective secure websites.

For more information, please contact your plan administrator or Plan Sponsor Services at 1-888-510-4762.

On May 19, 2021, Invesco announced that after having spent 9 years building and developing Invesco’s Multi-Asset products, David Millar is now Head of the Multi-Asset team. In order to better manage the scope and development of Invesco’s Multi-Asset strategies, he will step back from managing funds directly as of September 30, 2021.

In addition, to ensure a smooth transition in the fund manager role, Georgina Taylor, a fund manager with 8 years of experience on the team, joined the Invesco Global Absolute Return fund management team on May 31, 2021.