March 2024 Edition

Before transferring a retiring allowance or severance pay, see our checklist (PDF, 47 KB) External link. Opens in a new window. to:

• Distinguish between a retiring allowance and severance pay
• Identify the plans you can transfer to
• Know which portion is eligible for transfer

How to transfer the eligible portion

Submit this portion separately from your regular contribution remittance. Then contact your plan administrator or Plan Sponsor Services (1-888-510-4762 or grs_plansponsor@dfs.ca) to let them know that it’s a retiring allowance or severance pay.

For information on how retiring allowances are taxed, visit the CRA website External link. Opens in a new window..

Disregard this article if your fees are deducted directly from your plan(s).

To download your invoices related to the management of retirement plans:

• Log on to your account via dfs.ca/plansponsor Opens in a new window.
• Go to Report centre > Personalized extract
• Select Financial
• Select View

Note that an email is sent when a document becomes available on the plan sponsor services site.

Why are these invoices only online?

For ecological reasons, Desjardins Insurance no longer mails paper invoices.

Don’t forget to pay the invoices posted in your account at dfs.ca/plansponsor Opens in a new window..

Desjardins Insurance is proud to announce the launch of the Mawer Canadian Equity Fund on its group retirement savings platform on February 29, 2024. This fund, which is presented below, has long been closed to new clients by the manager to ensure a sound management of its capacity. It enhances our Canadian equity offering and is added to the 3 Mawer strategies already available through the investment platform (U.S. equity, international equity and global equity).

About the Mawer Canadian Equity Fund

This fund is actively managed by Mawer Investment Management and aims to provide long-term capital growth by investing in securities of large-cap Canadian companies. The fund manager systematically creates broadly diversified portfolios of companies with strong growth characteristics that are undervalued compared to their estimated intrinsic values. It uses a long-term investment horizon to enable growth and investor recognition.

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

The new English name better reflects the fact that these are responsible investment (RI) funds. This change will provide you and plan members with a better experience, since RI solutions will be easier to identify. We’ll also be changing the name in French from SociéTerre to Desjardins SociéTerre.

Beginning April 30, 2024, the new names will be seen on the list of À la carte funds, portfolios, Lifecycle Paths and on desjardinslifeinsurance.com.

Plan members affected by this change will be notified by email during the week of March 25, 2024. They’ll also see a message in their online account. The name change won’t have any impact on you or plan members and no action is required. In addition, there’s no change to investment objectives or fees.

Baillie Gifford

On February 2, 2024, the firm announced the addition of a new member to its International Growth strategy portfolio construction group. Robert Wilson, previously a member of the Global Long-Term Growth strategy portfolio construction group, joins the group now consisting of 7 members. The manager also announced the appointment of Nick Thomas as Head of Client Relations at the firm. In addition to his new responsibilities within the group, Nick replaces Antony Tait, in light of his upcoming retirement.

The Desjardins Insurance Group Retirement Savings Investment Solutions team sees this change as having a moderate impact with regards to the DFS Baillie Gifford International Equity Fund. We’ll monitor the situation over the coming quarters and provide updates as necessary.

Addenda Capital

On February 16, 2024, the firm announced Ian McKinnon’s promotion to Chief Investment Officer. In his new role, he’ll oversee the various investment teams, with the exception of the active duration management and commercial mortgage teams. He’ll also coordinate research and the implementation of systems supporting investment-related functions. Ian has held various positions within Addenda Capital, acting as Executive Vice President, Core Fixed Income since 2018.

The Desjardins Insurance Group Retirement Savings Investment Solutions team sees this change as having a moderate impact with regards to the DFS Addenda Commercial Mortgage Fund. We’ll monitor the situation over the coming quarters and provide updates as necessary.

CC&L

On February 16, 2024, the firm announced that Brian Eby, Portfolio Manager, Fixed Income, will be retiring this year. As the most senior member of the Fixed Income team, he’s primarily responsible for the team’s macroeconomic perspective, as well as the other groups to which he belongs. Brian is also a member of the Asset Allocation Group and the Investment Risk Management Committee.

In anticipation of his departure, the leadership of the team was transferred to David George, Director and Portfolio Manager, Head of Fixed Income in 2022, and the responsibility for the macroeconomic perspective has been assigned to TJ Sutter, Portfolio Manager, Fixed Income. David has over 26 years of experience, including over 17 years with CC&L, and TJ, with whom Brian has worked closely over the past 2 years, joined the team in 2021 and has more than 14 years of experience.

The Desjardins Insurance Group Retirement Savings Investment Solutions team sees this change as having a major impact with regards to the DFS CC&L Bond Fund and DFS CC&L Long Term Bond Fund. Although CC&L had planned Brian’s retirement in advance by transferring the leadership of the team to David George, this change, together with Brian’s previous transition to the equities team, significantly reduces the seniority level of the fixed income team, particularly on the macroeconomic level. We’ll monitor the situation closely over the coming months and provide updates as necessary.