April 2018 Edition

Desjardins Insurance is proud to announce that the DGIA Long Term Enhanced Bond Fund will be added to our group retirement savings platform on April 18, 2018. This fund will enhance our offer thanks to the addition of a quality investment option in the fixed income asset class.

Managed by Desjardins Global Asset Management (DGIA), mainly known for their expertise in fixed-income investment management, this fund invests mainly in long-term, high-quality securities of provincial governments and Canadian corporations. It aims to provide a high return derived primarily from interest income. It employs a fundamental approach and seeks to add value by managing duration, the yield curve and credit risk.

For more information on this new fund, please do not hesitate to communicate with your client relationship manager.

Departure at AllianceBernstein

On February 7, 2018, AllianceBernstein announced the departure of Ashish Shah, Chief Investment Officer of Global Credit and Head of Fixed Income. Scott DiMaggio, Partner and Director of both Global Fixed Income and Canada Fixed Income as well as Gershon Distenfeld , Partner and Director of Credit, were nominated as Co-Heads of Fixed Income. Mr. DiMaggio leads the underlying strategy of the Desjardins Enhanced Bond (AllianceBernstein) Fund.

Nomination at MFS

On February 15, 2018, MFS announced the nomination of Alison O’Neill Mackey as portfolio manager of the MFS US Equity strategy, effective May 1st, 2018. She is currently Director of Research – North America and research analyst. She will join Kevin Beatty and Ted Maloney, who are already part of the portfolio management team. Ms. O’Neill Mackey has been at MFS since 2005 and has over 15 years of experience. As research analyst, she worked closely with Mr. Beatty and Mr. Maloney on idea generation. This nomination will have no impact on the philosophy, style or investment process of the strategy.

Change to the MFS Global Equity Fund

MFS announced that the MFS Global Equity Fund was reopened to new investors effective April 4, 2018. This fund had been closed to new investors since 2012 but continued to accept contributions from existing clients.

Departure at Fidelity

On April 5, 2018, Fidelity announced the departure of Tim Choe, Portfolio Manager of the low volatility strategies, for personal reasons. Zach Dewhirst, who currently serves as team leader for the Quantitative Equity group, has been appointed as Tim Choe’s successor. In a previous role, Mr. Dewhirst was a quantitative analyst responsible for conducting research to build and enhance the quantitative stock selection models used to manage various FIAM portfolios.

As you know, Ministers Bill Morneau, Carlos Leitão and Charles Sousa recently tabled their respective budgets. Below are the highlights summarized by Desjardins Group economists.

Federal budget

• Generally speaking, the 2018 budget is aimed at strong economic growth and greater equality for all Canadians.
• The fiscal, economic and financial projections have changed little since the fall update. Moreover, budgetary deficits will continue throughout the federal government’s forecast horizon, though will gradually decline.
• Program spending growth should slow starting in 2018–19.
• The rise in interest rates expected over the next few years will significantly increase debt charges from $24.1B in 2016–17 to $33.1B in 2022–23.
• The debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to decline gradually in the coming fiscal years.
• The 2018 budget includes many new initiatives. Some, however, are merely a reallocation of funds already earmarked by the federal government. The bottom line is that the net financial cost of the new measures announced in the 2018 budget is fairly low.

To find out more, see the Budget Analysis - Federal from Desjardins Group’s economists and the Federal Tax Studies report (PDF, 313 KB) S’ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre. from our Taxation Administration Department.

In addition, you could share with your employees this summary, written in clear and accessible language: Federal Budget: measures affecting individuals.

Ontario budget

• Better economic conditions should put the province back in the black in 2017–2018.
• A substantial increase in spending is, however, forecast for subsequent fiscal years.
• The Ontario government is therefore expected to again run a deficit from 2018–2019 to 2023–2024.
• The 2018 budget includes $20.3B in new spending over three years.
• The Ontario government’s net debt will increase considerably in the coming fiscal years.

To learn more, read the Budget Analysis - Ontario from Desjardins’ Economic Studies team and the Provincial (Ontario) Tax Studies report (PDF, 455 KB) External link. Opens in a new window. from our Taxation Administration Department.

In addition, you could share with your employees this summary, written in clear and accessible language: Ontario budget: simplification of the Personal Income Tax.

Quebec budget

• Better economic conditions and faster federal transfer growth accelerate the rise in budgetary revenue.
• The Quebec government is using this fiscal room to significantly increase its spending.
• The 2018 budget contains many new measures, totalling close to $16B over the next five fiscal years.
• This, nonetheless, fits into the financial framework, with budgets balancing for all fiscal years between now and 2022–2023.
• The Quebec government is changing course in managing the province’s debt, as $2B annually will be withdrawn from the Generations Fund to pay down debt over the next five years.

In addition, you could share with your employees this summary, written in clear and accessible language: TBC EN version

To learn more, read the Budget Analysis - Quebec from Desjardins’ Economic Studies team and the Provincial (Quebec) Tax Studies report (PDF, 165 KB) from our Taxation Administration Department.

In addition, you could share with your employees this summary, written in clear and accessible language: Québec budget: new tax credit for first-home purchases.

Sign up External link. Opens in a new window. for Desjardins Economic Studies online publications.

Whether it’s to save time, avoid mountains of paper or benefit from simplicity and practicality, participants are choosing to make online transactions more than ever – and managing their group retirement savings plan is no exception.

In order to meet this growing need for mobile services, and also prioritizing the quality of the participant experience, we’ve added two new features and refreshed some content on the participant services website.

Lump-sum and recurring contributions

Participants can now go online to make their contributions that are not taken directly from payroll. With the Lump-Sum and Recurring Contributions section, participants can now set up pre-authorized debits directly from their bank account. Please note that online contributions are not allowed for DCPPs and SPPs1.1

Beneficiary designation

Participants can now view, designate and change their beneficiaries online. The new Beneficiary Designation section is under the Your Transactions menu. Please note that participants in Manitoba will not be able to use this feature online; paper forms will still be required.

Financial Wellness Centre

The Your education centre section has been updated. Now called Financial Wellness, this new section contains a wealth of information that will help your participants take control of their finances and ensure a safe financial future.

As a result of this new Financial Wellness section, the following pages will be moved to the Your account section of the site:

• Investment options
• Investor profile
• On Target Retirement

If you have any questions about these new features, please contact your Customer Relationship Manager.

Whether you’re using the contribution remittance interface or the standard file, mistaken or missing information can cause error messages when making your contribution remittances.

Here are two common situations and their solution:

Contribution remittance interface

“I pre-enrolled a new participant and entered a contribution remittance and then got an error message.”

Don’t worry! Our system may not be up-to-date. Wait 24 hours before doing anything. If the pre-enrolment and contribution remittance aren’t in the system the next day, contact your plan administrator.

Standard file

“I sent the standard file and got the following message.”

Don’t worry! The message tells you exactly where the mistakes are.

Simply follow these steps:

1. In the Excel file, correct the line indicated in the message.
2. Rename the file by adding an underscore R at the end of the original name (e.g., G00123456_COT_20140725_R).
3. Submit the file the same way you did the first time. 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.

Desjardins takes pride in providing its employees a healthy work life balance, and we’re happy to see that our efforts continue to be recognized.

Canada’s Top Family-Friendly Employers

For the seventh year in a row, Mediacorp has named Desjardins one of Canada’s Top Family-Friendly Employers External link. Opens in a new window.. Here are some of the reasons Desjardins is consistently awarded this accolade:

• Our great working conditions, especially our parental leave benefits
• Work-life balance practices, such as flexible work schedules and the option to work from home
• Our pension plan and group insurance

Canada’s Top 100 Employers

In addition to this award, Mediacorp has also recognized Desjardins as one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers External link. Opens in a new window.. This list highlights the Canadian employers who set themselves apart through innovative HR management practices and initiatives.

Top Employers for Young People

And finally, Mediacorp also named Desjardins one of Canada’s Top Employers for Young People External link. Opens in a new window.. Employers in this list use innovative practices to attract, train and retain younger workers, and they’re committed to supporting youth at the community level.

Fostering a healthy work environment is a priority for us at Desjardins, and we hope our efforts continue to be recognized.

As you may have already heard, Desjardins introduced a new logo this past March. While the iconic green and honeycomb themes are still present, the logo has been updated to reflect Desjardins’ shift towards the digital age. With the use of mobile and online services increasing, our sleeker and simpler logo is pointing Desjardins in a more modern direction.

Given Desjardins’ commitment to green practices, we’ll be rolling out the new design gradually. As a result there will be a period of overlap between the old and new logos.

We’re excited about the evolution of our logo, and we’re sure you’ll be seeing it soon on our platforms.

Earth Day is celebrated every day at Desjardins. We integrate a philosophy of social responsibility in all aspects of our business and culture.

For a more complete overview of our commitment and initiatives, we invite you to read our 2017 Corporate Social Responsibility Report. You can see how we achieve these goals in the way we work internally with our partners, and how we contribute to the well-being of individuals and communities.

To give you a concrete example, here are a few internal areas where we focus our attention:

• Alternative transportation
• Climate change
• Energy efficiency
• Environmentally-friendly waste management

What about your company? Answer the survey External link. Opens in a new window. and tell us what initiative you would like your company to take, that way you can also celebrate Earth Day 365 days a year.