April 2022 Edition

The tax-free savings account (TFSA) is a multi-purpose savings vehicle that lets you save for retirement. That's why it's part of Desjardins Insurance's group retirement savings plans.

If you offer a group TFSA, during the last week of April we'll be encouraging your plan members to contribute. This campaign includes:

• An article on the main features of the TFSA which will be published in the Financial wellness section of the plan member site
• An email to plan members inviting them to read the article, plus instructions for contributing to the TFSA
• A message on the plan member site with a direct link to the published article

We hope this TFSA campaign will contribute to your plan members' financial literacy and well-being.

Did you know that each province has different rules for the defined contribution (DC) plan?

That's why you must request a new appendix to the plan text each time you add new employees who will work in a province other than your plan's registration province. This appendix will give you the rules specific to the new province of employment.

Important: You don't need to request a new appendix each time you hire other employees who will work in a province of employment that you have already added.

What you need to do

Please notify your client relationship manager as soon as possible so that the information can be relayed to our Plan Administration team. They will then produce the necessary appendix and the new Plan summary, make changes to your plan rules as necessary and return the documents to you for signature.

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) requires all employers who sponsor a registered pension plan (RPP)1 to file a T1007 - Connected Person Information Return External link. Opens in a new window. within 60 days of a person connected with an employer (connected person) becoming a member of the RPP. To find out what you need to do, read the Employer Instructions section on the T1007 return.

The T1007 late filing penalty is $25 per day, for up to a maximum of 100 days (minimum penalty of $100).

A connected person2 is an individual who meets one or more of the following conditions:

• The individual owns (or is deemed to own), directly or indirectly, at least 10% of the issued shares of any class of the capital stock of the employer, or of any other corporation that is related to the employer.
• The individual doesn't deal at arm's length with the employer. It includes people like the employer's majority shareholder, and anyone related to the majority shareholder–like a spouse, child, sibling, parent or in-law.
• The individual is deemed to be a specified shareholder of the employer under paragraph (d) of the definition of “specified shareholder” in subsection 248(1) of the Income Tax Act.

An individual is deemed to own all or a part, depending on the situation, of the company shares owned by:

• Someone related to the individual who doesn't deal with the employer at arm's length (such as the spouse, child, sibling, parent, in-law)
• A trust for which the person is the beneficiary
• A partnership of which the person is a member

Important: This is not an exhaustive list of definitions. For advice on your specific situation, please speak to your tax specialist.

On March 11, 2022, PGIM announced various changes. Temple Houston, Head of Global Investment Grade Credit Research, has decided to step down from his position. His departure is expected to take place in April 2023. Cheryl Akawie, Head of U.S. Investment Grade Credit Research, will serve as co-head with Temple until his retirement. Cheryl will become the sole Head of U.S. and Japan Investment Grade and Municipals Research. Janet Crowe, Head of U.S. Leveraged Finance Credit Research, and Brian Barnhurst, Portfolio Manager, U.S. High Yield, will become Co-Heads of Credit Research.

Gary Stromberg and Elizabeth Halpin, Analysts, U.S. High Yield Credit Research, will become Co-Heads of U.S. Leveraged Finance Credit Research. Peter Allan, Head of European Leveraged Finance Credit Research, will become Head of European Credit Research.

On March 11, 2022, Fiera Capital announced the hiring of Yi Tao, a junior small cap Canadian equity analyst. Yi will take over from Michael Rabinowitz, who will focus on global small cap equities within the team.

On March 11, 2022, CC&L announced some changes to its teams. On the core team side, Andrew Zimcik has been named co-leader of the team and will also be joining the board of directors. Marc Bridges has been appointed as Director of Research. Steve Vertes has retired. He covered consumer staples and communications. The sectors have been taken over by Gary Baker. Ryan Elliott has been appointed as Partner.

For the fixed income team, there was a leadership change between Brian Eby and David George, who is now the sole leader of the team. Brian is staying on, but will focus on macro strategies (duration, curve).

Brian Milne was appointed as Associate.

On March 25, 2022, AllianceBernstein announced the departure of Ali Dibadj, Chief Financial Officer & Head of Strategy. In addition, AllianceBernstein acquired CarVal Investors, an alternative asset manager. The firm manages approximately $14 billion in various strategies such as distressed debt, renewable energy and infrastructure.