July 2019 Edition

During his visit to Vancouver last April, Desjardins’ President and CEO, Guy Cormier, toured the head office and facilities of one of our GRS clients, Lush Opens in a new window..

Accompanied by Lush Canadian Corporate Controller, Dave Andru, Guy Cormier was able to experience first-hand the passion that goes into making handmade cosmetics as well as the cultural alignment between both organizations. In addition to supporting causes it feels passionately about through its various ethical campaigns, Lush is a strong advocate of sustainable development beyond developing innovative package-free products. Desjardins shares this commitment to social responsibility Opens in a new window., which is at the heart of its cooperative values.

This focus on minimizing their environmental impact trickles down to Lush employees. Lush has effectively promoted their group retirement savings plan by using a digital approach: email campaigns and webinars have been the solution of choice for getting their largely 34 and under workforce engaged. This successful strategy has resulted in 85% of plan members receiving electronic statements and close to 40% actively managing their savings online.

Employee wellbeing is also top of mind. Recognizing the value that a comprehensive workplace wealth and health program brings to their workforce, Lush has recently selected Desjardins as its group insurance solutions provider.

Finally, the recent launch of the Lush Lab app, an invitation to test-run their new digital solutions, is just another example of how both organizations align by placing innovation at the forefront. It was developed by the Lush R&D team, the Tech Warriors, whose focus is bringing to life tech solutions to real world problems. Thanks to its own Innovation Lab, Desjardins also demonstrates its leadership and commitment to creating added value for clients and communities.

Here are posters to help you promote the contest. Print them (or order copies from us) and put them up where your employees will see them. You can also email them to your plan members.

Posters are available in 2 sizes:

8.5" x 11" (21.6 x 28 cm) (PDF, 132 KB) Opens in a new window.

11" x 17" (28 x 43 cm) (PDF, 173 KB) Opens in a new window.

How can your plan members enter? It’s easy. They just have to complete or update their information in On Target Retirement^® between July 1 and September 29.

The lucky winner can choose a gift card or a contribution to their workplace savings plan.

On Target Retirement is a smart, sleek and simple savings goal tracker that:

• lets plan members create their own retirement scenarios and change information like their contribution rate or retirement age to see how it could make it easier for them to reach their goals
• shows plan members how much income they can expect from government plans, their workplace savings plan and their personal savings

For more details about the contest, read the full contest rules and regulations (PDF, 406 KB) Opens in a new window..

Good luck!

To make sure you can leave work behind and really enjoy your vacation:

1. Fill out the Authorization to Access Plan and/or Personal Participant Information form  Opens in a new window. to provide your replacement with access to the plan sponsor site.

   IMPORTANT: You are responsible for any transactions performed in your account. Do not share your user ID and password. Fill out the form to make sure your replacement can access the site during your absence.

2. Before you go, train your backup so they can process:
   • Enrolments
   • Updates to personal information
   • Terminations
   • Contribution remittances

To help you train your backup, refer to the administrative guide under Guides and procedures on the plan sponsor site External link. Opens in a new window..

Please disregard this article if your plan has immediate vesting.

What does vesting mean?

Vesting occurs when an employee becomes entitled to the accumulated value of employer contributions, by meeting plan membership or employment requirements (as defined by plan rules). Vesting can be used as a strategy to retain employees.

What happens if an employee leaves before employer contributions are vested?

If you offer a deferred profit-sharing plan (DPSP) or a defined contribution (DC) plan without immediate vesting, non-vested employer contributions are forfeited by employees who leave the plan. The benefits forfeited in a given year must be used by December 31 of the following year.

This means that the amounts forfeited in 2018 must be used by December 31, 2019.

What happens to forfeited benefits?

Based on your plan rules, you can use the forfeited benefits to:

• Pay for all or some of the contributions that you would ordinarily have to pay into your plan.
• Pay the fees you are responsible for.
• Distribute the unused benefits to your plan members. If you choose this option, you have to let Desjardins know whether you would like to distribute the unused benefits evenly to all employees or whether you would like the distribution to be prorated.

Please contact your CRM or call Plan Sponsor Services at 1-888-280-2447  This link will launch your default phone software. to let us know what you would like to do with these forfeited benefits, if you haven’t already.

Desjardins Insurance is pleased to announce that two new funds will be launched on our group retirement savings platform on July 31, 2019. These funds, which are described below, enhance our Canadian and global equity offerings.

Fidelity Canadian Low Volatility Equity Fund

This actively managed fund aims to provide long-term capital appreciation while minimizing overall portfolio volatility by investing primarily in Canadian equity securities. The fund manager combines techniques of bottom-up fundamental research and quantitative analysis to identify and select securities. Quantitative modeling is also used at the portfolio level to reduce overall volatility.

This fund is the newest addition to the range of low volatility equity funds managed by Fidelity already available on the platform in U.S. and international equities.

Mawer Global Equity Fund

This actively managed fund aims to provide long-term capital growth by investing in equity and equity-related securities of companies around the world. The fund manager systematically creates a broadly diversified portfolio of companies with strong growth characteristics bought at discounts to their intrinsic values. It uses a long-term investment horizon to allow for investor recognition and growth.

This fund is the newest addition to the range of equity funds managed by Mawer already available on the platform in U.S. and international equities.

For more information about these new funds, talk to your client relationship manager.

Addenda Capital

Greg Hornung joined Addenda Capital as Associate Vice-President, Commercial Mortgages, reporting to Elvira Dubé, Senior Vice-President, Commercial Mortgages. François Desmeules has been promoted to Assistant Portfolio Manager, Fixed Income, and continues to report to Vincent Benoliel, Senior Portfolio Manager, Fixed Income and Head of Quantitative Research.

CI Financial Corp.

On June 25, Darie Urbanky was appointed President and COO of Toronto-based CI Financial Corp. Mr. Urbanky has 23 years of experience at CI, including in investment management, advisory and wealth management operations, sales and marketing, and corporate systems.

Beutel, Goodman & Company Ltd.

Since June 24, 2019, Beutel, Goodman & Company Ltd. has officially become a signatory of the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). Established in 2006, the UN-sponsored PRI initiative is a set of voluntary principles that engage fund managers and other stakeholders to integrate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations into their investment decisions.