February 2022 Edition

If you offer an RRSP or a TFSA, encourage your employees to enter the Get closer to your dreams contest. They could win $3,000!

To enter the contest, all they have to do is:

1. Log on to their Group retirement savings account using Omni Desjardins or via dfs.ca/GroupPlanMember, between January 1 and March 1, 2022
2. Go to My transactions > Contribute and make an initial contribution (payroll or lump-sum) or increase their existing contributions to their group RRSP or TFSA

The first winner

The first random draw was held on February 2. Congratulations to Kathleen Legere of Brookfield, Nova Scotia, who received $3,000! The next (and final) draw to select the second winner is scheduled for March 7, 2022. They'll also receive $3,000.

The contest winners can have the money paid out to them directly or deposited into their Group retirement savings plan. If they select a registered plan, they must ensure there is sufficient contribution room.

The second winner of the On your way to financial empowerment autumn 2021 contest

The last random draw was held on December 7. Congratulations to Marc-Antoine Landry of Mascouche, Quebec, who received $1,500!

You can print out these posters or upload them to your intranet to promote the contest to your employees.

8.5 x 11 poster (PDF, 2.3 MB) External link. Opens in a new window.

11 x 17 poster (PDF, 1.6 MB) External link. Opens in a new window.

To learn more, read the full contest rules (PDF, 197 KB) External link. Opens in a new window..

When making your contribution remittances, incorrect or missing information can cause error messages, whether you’re using the contribution remittance interface or the standard file.

Two common situations and their solutions in case of error messages:

1. Contribution remittance interface

Situation: You pre-enrolled a new plan member and entered a contribution remittance, and then got an error message.

Solution: Please wait 24 hours before doing anything as our system may not be up to date. If both the pre-enrolment and contribution remittance aren’t in the system the next day, contact your plan administrator.

2. Standard file

Situation: You sent the standard file and got the following message:

Solution: The message tells you exactly where the mistakes are. Simply follow these steps:

• In the Excel file, correct the line indicated in the message
• Rename the file by adding an underscore R at the end of the original name (e.g., G00123456_COT_20210304_R)
• Submit the file the same way you did the first time

Please note: The new file will automatically overwrite the previous one.

IMPORTANT: If you get another error message, call your plan administrator.

If you think you have made an error

To make corrections to amounts, contribution types, periods or other information, or if you think there was a problem with the data transfer, call your plan administrator as soon as possible or contact Plan Sponsor Services by email at grs_plansponsor@dfs.ca or by phone at 1-888-510-4762.

By signing up for pre-authorized debits (PAD), you authorize Desjardins to withdraw the contribution amounts from your company’s bank account when you remit contributions to your plan.

Why change to PAD?

Because it’s quick, easy and reliable. Thanks to PAD, the exact amount is withdrawn from your account when you send us your contribution list. You no longer have the extra step of sending in the contributions by cheque, e-transfer or online payment. The 2 steps of your contribution remittance are combined in one. Furthermore, your payment and the contribution total will always balance.

You keep control

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

How to enrol

Simply fill out the PAD for businesses form (PDF, 198 KB) Opens in a new window.. It’s available in the Forms section at dfs.ca/PlanSponsor, from your plan administrator or by contacting Plan Sponsor Services by email at grs_plansponsor@dfs.ca or by phone at 1-888-510-4762, from 8 am to 5 pm (ET), Monday to Friday.

On February 14, 2022, Grandeur Peak Global Advisors became the second sub-manager of the Desjardins Global Small Cap Equity Fund. The Fund is now co-managed by Grandeur Peak and Lazard, who was previously its sole sub-manager. The Fund’s assets will be invested according to a bottom-up investment approach with 2 different investment styles: relative-value used by Lazard and Grandeur Peak’s quality growth-oriented method. The target fund’s management structure will be distributed as follows: 70-75% Lazard and 25-30% Grandeur Peak.

On January 4, 2022, Beutel Goodman announced that Jackie Corneil was promoted to General Manager, Finance and Administration as of January 1, 2022, and has joined the Management Committee. These changes follow Michael Gibson’s retirement as General Manager, Operations, on December 31, 2021, as previously announced on March 30, 2021.

On January 5, 2022, Fiera Capital announced that, in accordance with its CEO succession plan, Jean-Guy Desjardins, founder of Fiera Capital, became Executive Chairman of Fiera Capital’s Board of Directors, and Jean-Philippe Lemay became Global President and CEO of Fiera Capital. These appointments took effect January 1, 2022. Jean-Guy Desjardins will continue to play an active role in making key strategic and investment decisions within the firm, including maintaining his commitment to serving the firm's clients.

On January 18, 2022, PH&N announced that Stephen Burke will be stepping down as co-head of the PH&N Fixed Income team on June 30, 2022. Graeme Robertson will also be stepping down as co-head of the same team on December 31, 2022. Stephen and Graeme have already begun transferring their co-head responsibilities to their successors, 2 seasoned members of the PH&N Fixed Income team, Kristian Sawkins and Bryan Mascoe.

On January 19, 2022, Mirova announced that Ladislas Smia will be leaving Mirova to pursue a new career opportunity outside of the asset management industry, and that Mathilde Dufour will step down as the team's Deputy Head/Director of Listed Market Research and become the new Head of Sustainability Research.

On January 26, 2022, Mondrian announced the following changes:

• Promotion of Jonathan Spread to Head of Research, United States. Jonathan has 10 years of experience at Mondrian.
• Promotion of James Francken to Senior Portfolio Manager. James joined the firm in 2009.
• Promotion of Alex Simcox to Head of ESG. Alex has been with Mondrian for 14 years and was part of the International team. He is joining the Global and International Committees.
• Promotion of Steven Dutaut to Head of Research, Europe and Asia. Steven has been with Mondrian for 14 years and is part of the International team.
• Aileen Gan (CIO Global Equities) is joining the International Committee to further align the 2 teams.

On January 26, 2022, AllianceBernstein announced the departure at the end of March 2022 of Jackie Pincus, High Yield Portfolio Manager and member of the Canada Fixed Income team. Jackie will be replaced by Robert Schwartz, who has been with the firm for 10 years and has over 20 years of experience. Most recently, Robert was part of the Credit Research team and has previously managed portfolios.

On January 26, 2022, PGIM announced that effective February 1, 2022, Eugenia Unanyants-Jackson will assume the role of PGIM Global Head of ESG. Eugenia was previously Head of ESG Research at PGIM Fixed Income. John Ploeg and Armelle de Vienne are now co-heads of ESG Research within PGIM Fixed Income and will report to Richard Greenwood, Head of Credit.

On January 26, 2022, DGIA announced the hiring of François Panneton as Director of Quantitative Strategies. François and his team will be primarily responsible for the development and management of systematic mandates, quantitative research and financial modeling/engineering across all asset classes.

There is also the hiring of Christopher Mann as Portfolio Manager in the Global Equities team under Tommy Nguyen. Christopher has nearly 20 years of experience managing North American equity portfolios. His arrival should help structure research efforts in U.S. securities and research support for Canadian equities.