March 2019 Edition

The year 2017 was prosperous worldwide, but the economic horizon darkened in 2018 when the economy took a downswing. But is it too early to talk about a recession?

On January 30, Desjardins Group’s Economic Studies team published the In This Time of Uncertainty, Careful Not to Confuse Economic Slowdown with Recession  External link. Opens in a new window. article (under the 2019 section) which presents and analyzes the economic and financial facts.

Desjardins Group’s Economic Studies  External link. Opens in a new window. team won the FocusEconomics Best Economic Forecaster Award in both 2017 and 2018. You can also subscribe  External link. Opens in a new window. to receive their publications by email.

The 20th annual Benefits Canada DC Plan Summit took place from February 6 to 8 in Banff, Alberta. The summit gathered together DC leaders, plan sponsors and influencers who explored how best to improve plan member engagement and outcomes, within the context of legislative changes, evolving plan design and shifting demographics. Key leaders from Desjardins Group Retirement Savings attended the event, including David Charbonneau, Senior Vice-President and Nadia Darwish, Vice President, Development & Marketing.

Desjardins’ modern approach to savings

In support of the conference theme, Jean-Pascal Plamondon, National Director of Client Relationship and Investment Solutions, invited attendees to “embrace the change” that comes with the realities of our new era. He presented Desjardins’ modern approach to savings that recognizes plan members’ objectives as unique and evolving, with a focus on reaching short- and long-term objectives. And beyond broadening the scope of traditional retirement saving plans to reflect personal life goals, he shared insight into approaches that can help members achieve and maintain financial wellness. Highlighting that, by making the journey and the engagement along the way as important as the final destination, we can change the retirement conversation.

Essential to achieving this objective is the effective use of technology, complemented by human support. Keynote speakers also identified how we can leverage opportunities introduced by the digital realm and behavioural science.

This event further reinforces our modern approach and commitment to improving plan member engagement and financial wellness.

Our plan members’ financial wellness matters to us, so we’ve developed an approach that’s in their best interests. Our group retirement savings team has been making changes to clarify and simplify financial information for our members.

Our third educational video highlights employer matching. The video will be distributed only to members whose plans include an employer match. We want to showcase this benefit, because members aren’t always aware of it or don’t make the most of what’s available to them.

Employer match

March 6, 2019 (1 min 13 s)

Would you like to share our educational videos?

Does your plan offer employer matching? Feel free to share this new video.

Does your plan offer a group RRSP? You can also share the video about the HBP External link. Opens in a new window. (also available in French External link. Opens in a new window.) on your intranet, on the cafeteria television or in your internal newsletter.

A fourth educational video will be launched in April. Aimed at members aged 50 and over, it addresses retirement planning and specifically seeks to clarify the differences between various sources of retirement income.

International Women’s Day is a time to celebrate women’s achievements, while recognizing that real challenges and inequities still exist − particularly when it comes to money.

An October 2018 survey  External link. Opens in a new window. of over 2,000 Canadians, undertaken by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), identified a substantial gender gap when it comes to retirement preparedness; when looking at different age groups, women were less likely than men to have started saving for retirement.

According to the same survey, more women than men report having high stress in relation to their current financial situation and they are also less likely to have thought ahead when it comes to their financial matters.

So how can you help address these realities?

By promoting the Desjardins Insurance mobile-responsive secure site  External link. Opens in a new window. to your plan members. In doing so, you’ll also be fully in line with this year’s International Women’s Day theme, #InnovateForChange, which encourages everyone to harness technology to promote greater equality.

More specifically, you can spread the word about how the Financial Wellness Centre:

• Promotes financial education and demystifies investing. The tools available can help plan members find the motivation to set realistic goals and save to achieve their dreams.
• Shows the value of paying yourself first. It can be hard to save early on when money is tight, but On Target Retirement^® can show what a dollar saved today can do to secure a sound financial future.
• Encourages a focus on short-, mid- and long-term goals. Savings strategies should recognize the need to balance paying down debt, saving for a home and planning for an adequate income stream in the future. On Target Retirement^® can help plan members stay on track to meet their longer-term goals.

By working together, we can help everyone improve their financial wellness.

Congratulations to our winners:

• Andrew Kudel, of Saskatoon (SK)
• Stéphanie De Morais Aires, of LaSalle (QC)
• Francis Fournier, of Montreal (QC)

They each viewed their personalized video or updated their data in On Target Retirement^® at dfs.ca/participant External link. Opens in a new window. between December 1, 2018 and March 1, 2019. Following the draw, they each received their prize in gift cards or bonuses to their group retirement savings plan.

About the contest…

How did the members win? They had to watch their personalized video or update their information in On Target Retirement between December 1, 2018 and March 1, 2019. They were then automatically entered in the contest.

Why complete On Target Retirement? This retirement income calculator shows members how different choices will move them closer to or further away from their financial goals. Members can try out different scenarios as often as they want – different retirement ages, target retirement incomes and savings – and see the potential impact those changes will have on their future.

How is the video personalized? The script is based on each member’s unique situation. From the information available in On Target Retirement, Penny (our virtual guide) gives personalized tips to achieve financial wellness. She suggests what members can do to get closer to their financial goals.

Participants have access to their own RRSP receipts and tax slips on the participant services website if they wish to obtain a copy before receiving the original by mail. They simply have to log on to dfs.ca/participant, go to the Your account section, and click on Statements and documents > Tax receipts and tax slips.

Do you want to help your participants access their RRSP receipts or other tax statements? You can do so using the plan sponsor services website by following these steps:

1. Log on to dfs.ca/plansponsor External link. Opens in a new window.
2. Click on the Participant files tile in the blue section
3. Search for the employee using their name or participant number
4. Click on the employee’s file once you find it
5. Under the Your account section, open the Tax receipts and tax slips page
6. Select the applicable tax receipt

Mailing schedule

At the end of January, your employees should have received by mail their RRSP and VRSP tax receipts for contributions made in 2018. By the end of March, they will receive their tax receipts for contributions made during the first 60 days of 2019.

The T4A, T4RIF, T4RSP and Relevé 2 will be sent mid-February and the T3, Relevé 16 and NR4 mid-March.

Our contribution management solution allows employees to enter their own special contributions on the secure participant services website. This feature also helps them manage their contributions and encourages them to set up automatic transfers to their group RRSP, TFSA or non-registered plan.

This functionality also makes your life easier! At the end of each bonus period, you receive a detailed report outlining your employees’ instructions on how to invest their bonuses. You can then use this report to make your remittances.

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 feature 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..

What is a PAD?

A pre-authorized debit (PAD) payment is an authorization you give to Desjardins to withdraw the contribution amounts from your company’s bank account when you remit salary contributions to your plan.

Why should you change your actual method to PAD?

Because it’s quick, easy and reliable. A PAD payment is automatically triggered when you send us your contribution list and the exact amount is withdrawn from your account, saving you the extra step of actually sending in the contributions (by cheque, e-transfer or online payment). Two steps are combined in one and your payment and the contribution total will always balance.

Not sure about having Desjardins make withdrawals directly from your bank account?

You control when the withdrawals are made and how much is withdrawn, since the PAD is triggered when you send in the contribution list. It's important to note that the PAD doesn’t permit any other types of transactions to be performed in your account.

How do you sign up?

Simply fill out the PAD for businesses form, available in the Forms section at dfs.ca/plansponsor External link. Opens in a new window.. You can also get the form by writing to grs_plansponsor@dfs.ca or by calling Plan Sponsor Services at 1-888-510-4762 This link will launch your default phone software., from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (ET), Monday to Friday.

We have been advised that Bruno Weinberg Crocco has been named co-portfolio manager on the Target Date Investment Management team, effective February 1, 2019. He joins Andrew Dierdorf and Brett Sumsion as co-portfolio manager on the ClearPath Portfolios. For the past four years, Mr. Weinberg Crocco has served as a quantitative analyst in the Global Asset Allocation (GAA) group. He was responsible for providing research support to the portfolio managers within the Global Institutional Solutions group, researching active asset allocation investment signals and disseminating his findings across the GAA. Prior to joining the GAA, Mr. Weinberg Crocco spent four years as a manager in the Financial Markets group where he was responsible for monitoring global financial markets for trends that might impact Fidelity's portfolios and businesses.

You will now be able to obtain Investment Info Bulletins directly from the Investment section of the Plan sponsor services website.

You can also visit the Desjardins Life Insurance website to see the funds’ rates of return.