September 2017 Edition

Appointments at DGIA

On August 23, 2017, DGIA announced the appointment of Christian Duceppe and Marc Provost as co-Chief Investment Officers, Public Markets. In addition to his responsibilities in fixed income, infrastructure and private investments, Christian Duceppe will be overseeing asset allocation research and the implementation of tactical views. As for Marc Provost, in addition to remaining responsible for Canadian equities, he will be managing systematic investment strategies, including responsible investing.

Messrs. Provost and Duceppe will also assume joint leadership of the tactical asset allocation group supporting the management of multi-class mandates.

Changes at Fiera Capital

On August 21, 2017, Fiera Capital announced the hiring of a new fixed income team comprised of three individuals: Charles Lefebvre, Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager, Luc Bergeron and Tan Vu Nguyen, Vice Presidents and Portfolio Managers. All three have worked together over seven years at another investment management firm.

On September 8, 2017, Fiera Capital announced that the new Active and Strategic Fixed Income (ASFI) team, initially made up of the three portfolio managers who were recently hired, officially began on September 5, 2017. This team's management process will aim to generate value across various market environments through a multi-strategy approach resting on fundamental, technical, seasonality and sentiment factors.

In conjunction with this announcement, Fiera Capital informed us that the Active Fixed Income mandates will be transitioned to the new ASFI team by the end of the year. Art Yeates and Gaétan Dupuis, portfolio managers of the Active Fixed Income team, will be transitioning out of their portfolio management responsibilities and will be leaving the firm by the end of the year. Jean-Guy Mérette and Olivier Audette Génier will be integrating the ASFI team, while David Frei will continue to lead the infrastructure debt offering while working closely with the broad fixed income and infrastructure equity teams. These changes impact the DFS Fiera Bond Fund and DFS Fiera Long Term Bond Fund, for which the underlying funds are managed by the Active Fixed Income team.

We will closely monitor the evolution and impact of these changes and will communicate any relevant and ensuing developments.

Departure at Epoch

On August 17, 2017, Epoch, the manager of the Desjardins Global Equity Dividend Fund, announced the retirement of Eric Sappenfield on December 31, 2017. He was the Portfolio Manager and Senior Research Analyst for the firm's Shareholder Yield strategies, one of which underlies the Desjardins Fund. Mike Welhoelter, a Shareholder Yield Portfolio Manager and the Head of Quantitative Research and Risk Management, will have overall responsibility for the Shareholder Yield strategies. Kera Van Valen, who originally joined Epoch in 2005 and is one of the current Portfolio Managers on the Shareholder Yield team, will become the lead Portfolio Manager. John Tobin, who joined Epoch in 2012, will likewise continue as a Shareholder Yield Portfolio Manager.

Although we will closely monitor the evolution and impact of these changes, it is important to note that Epoch prepares for such transitions by having multiple portfolio managers on each strategy, as is the case here. In addition, the Shareholder Yield strategies incorporate robust risk controls that help ensure a consistent application.

Changes at Baillie Gifford

On August 18, 2017, Baillie Gifford informed us that Tom Coutts, Deputy Chair of the EAFE Alpha Portfolio Construction Group (underlying strategy to the DFS Baillie Gifford International Equity Fund), will now focus full time on the strategy. He was previously head of the firm’s Continental European Equity team. In addition, Lee Qian will be moving from the EAFE Alpha Research Group to help establish the firm’s Positive Change team dedicated to responsible investing. He will be replaced by Paulina Sliwinska, who has been with Baillie Gifford for four years.

For more information, please contact your client relationship manager.

As part of the periodic review of our Multi-Management Funds, we will make the following modifications to the composition of these funds effective September 29th. These modifications are in line with our management philosophy for the Multi-Management Funds, the goal being to optimize the long-term expected return for a given level of risk.

• The Fiera Canadian Equity Growth Fund is removed from the composition of our Multi-Managment Funds following the decision announced last July by Fiera to cease management of the mandate as a result of the departure of the strategy’s sole manager. Assets that were allocated to this fund will be redistributed between the portfolios’ two other large cap Canadian equity funds, the Beutel Goodman Fundamental Canadian Equity Fund and the CC&L Canadian Equity Fund.
• The asset allocation within the fixed income component is slightly revised, notably through the introduction of the CC&L Bond Fund to the portfolios’ composition. The main objective of this change is to increase the value added potential inside the component.

These modifications do not result in a change to the pricing of the Multi-Management Funds. The Funds’ benchmarks also remain unchanged.

For more information, please contact your client relationship manager.

On September 11th, 2017, Desjardins Global Asset Management (DGIA) replaced Fiera Capital as sub-advisor of the Desjardins Canadian Equity Growth Fund. This change follows the decision announced last July by Fiera to cease management of the mandate as a result of the departure of the strategy’s sole manager. In conjunction with this modification, the fund offered by Desjardins Group Retirement Savings is renamed Desjardins Canadian Equity Fund (DGIA).

Following this change, the fund’s investment objective remains unchanged, that is, to target an annualized return at least 2% higher than that of the S&P/TSX Index, over four-year moving periods. Although the fund’s fundamental objective is still to provide long-term capital growth by investing in a diversified portfolio of Canadian equities, its investment philosophy is modified as follows:

Desjardins Canadian Equity Growth (Fiera)

The fund manager focuses on companies whose long-term earnings growth prospects are above average and whose shares are trading at a reasonable price. The investment process uses fundamental and quantitative analysis to select securities.

Desjardins Canadian Equity (DGIA)

The fund manager focuses on selecting securities that offer growth at a reasonable price while strictly controlling portfolio risk. The investment process is primarily based on fundamental analysis but also uses quantitative and technical analysis to support investment decisions.

As for the fund’s investment policy parameters, they remain substantially the same except for the removal of the possibility to invest up to 10% of assets in foreign equities. The intended portfolio is also less concentrated, going from a target of approximately 35 securities to approximately 65 securities.

For more information, please contact your client relationship manager.

Thanks to our new contribution management solution, employees can now enter special contributions themselves on the secure participant services website. At the end of each bonus period, you’ll receive a detailed report you can use to remit contributions.

Not only does the new solution make bonus transfers easier for you, but it also helps participants manage their contributions and encourages them to set up automatic transfers to their group plan (RRSP, TFSA or non-registered plan).

To simplify your administrative tasks even further, you could combine this solution with other contribution level management (CLM) and electronic data transfer (EDT) solutions.

To take advantage of this new solution or any of our other tools, contact your client relationship manager or Plan Sponsor Services at 1-888-510-4762 This link will launch your default phone software..

Unless your plan1 allows for the immediate vesting of employer contributions, you must use the non-vested amounts accumulated in your plan during 2016 before December 31, 2017.

What are non-vested amounts?

Non-vesting is created when an employee’s participation in your plan terminates before they are entitled to keep the employer contributions made on their behalf. The non-vested amounts that you have accumulated within a plan must be used before December 31 of the year following their creation.

How to use non-vested amounts

According to the terms of your plan, you have the choice to use the non-vested amounts to:

Pay all or part of the contributions that you would normally pay to your plan Pay fees that you are responsible for Distribute them among the participants in your plan. If you choose this option, you must inform Desjardins Insurance if you want an equal or a pro-rated distribution among your participants.

Contact us!

If you haven't informed Desjardins Insurance on how you want to use the non-vested amounts in your plan, please contact your dedicated administrator at Desjardins Insurance as soon as possible.

Please note, if your plan allows the immediate vesting of employer contributions, please ignore this notice.

Contrary to several Canadian banks, Desjardins Group has maintained its position on the list of the world’s 50 safest banks according to a survey conducted by Global Finance magazine.

Desjardins is in 3rd place in Canada and 34th in the world, a repeat of its 2016 performance.

Our clients and members can count on the strength of their financial institution and trust that protecting their assets is our top priority.

To determine the annual rankings, Global Finance evaluates the 500 largest banks in the world.