November 2022 Edition

The results are in from the survey we sent on August 16! We’ll use your feedback to create content that’s aligned with your needs and interests.

Key takeaways from the survey:

• 77% of respondents said they find the content in The Essential to be very useful or relatively useful for helping them do their jobs
• The sections most liked by readers are:
  • Your plan members for 58% of respondents
  • How to for 53% of respondents
  • Investments and financial markets for 37% of respondents
• Respondents expressed interest in the following topics:
  • Employee financial empowerment 60%
  • Capital accumulation plans 50%
  • Physical and mental health at work 47%
  • Investments 46%

We kept our promise!

We promised to donate $1 to United Way for each completed survey. Since 600 people took the time to respond, we gave a $600 contribution to United Way.

Thanks to everyone who answered the survey!

The Default fund campaign aims to encourage plan members who haven’t provided their investment instructions to do so as soon as possible. The message clearly states to the recipient that their savings are in a default fund that may not allow them to get the most out of their program.

When this campaign is activated for a given group, only plan members who’ve completed their enrolment and whose savings are in the default fund (because they haven’t provided their investment instructions) will receive the message if:

• Their balance is greater than $0, and
• They haven’t actively selected their investment option, or
• Their plan sponsor hasn’t selected a default option for their group

Refinement of existing campaigns

In an ongoing effort to send the right message to the right individual, we’ve added the greater than $0 balance targeting criterion to the following campaigns:

• Missing application for mandatory RRSP
• Missing beneficiary
• Default fund
• Investor profile
• On Target Retirement^®

Do you want your plan members to receive our automated communications?

Contact your client relationship manager now, and we’ll set it up.

November is Financial Literacy Month! Throughout November, we encourage our plan members to invest in their financial well-being and learn more about saving.

Inflation and higher interest rates are reasons why plan members may need to adjust their budget to manage daily spending and pay down debt. The right financial balance will depend on their financial situation and goals.

Plan members might be shy or even fearful when talking about money, so how can we help them find their balance?

Well, we decided to debunk a few myths and false perceptions that could cause stress and prevent plan members from taking advantage of their group retirement savings program.

In November’s email campaign, each myth is debunked, and we provide plan members with guidance and encouragement to take action. We refer them to their online account where they can find the tools and user-friendly resources they need to take advantage of their group retirement savings program, like the:

• Online Education Centre, which offers free webinars
• On Target Retirement^® goal tracker
• Investor profile questionnaire

Let’s keep promoting financial literacy and debunk some myths to help our plan members find their financial balance! Click below to access some financial education material that you can share with the employees within your organization.

• Moxi-screen (PDF, 1.3 MB) Opens in a new window.
• Content on the myths preventing plan members from taking action (PDF, 201 KB) Opens in a new window.

To find out more about our approach, see Communication and education. Opens in a new window.

Please disregard this article if your plan has immediate vesting.

What is vesting?

Vesting can be used as a strategy to retain employees. It’s subject to plan membership or employment requirements (as defined by plan rules) up to a maximum of 24 months. Employees are encouraged to remain in employment, failing which, they forfeit their employer contributions.

How to use forfeited employer contributions

Depending on your plan rules, you can:

• Receive forfeited amounts in cash or by bank transfer less applicable withholding taxes
• Distribute the unused benefits to your plan members

If you choose the latter option, you must inform Desjardins whether you would like the unused benefits to be distributed to plan members.

Another option is available if you offer a defined contribution (DC) plan:

• Pay the administrative fees, the investment fees and any other fees incurred in relation to the plan

What happens if you don’t provide us with any instructions?

If you offer a deferred profit-sharing plan (DPSP) or a DC plan without immediate vesting, non-vested employer contributions are returned to you (less applicable withholding taxes). The benefits forfeited in a given year must be used by December 31 of the following year.

Provide your instructions if you haven’t already done so!

Contact your client relationship manager or Plan Sponsor Services at 1-888-510-4762 to let us know what you would like to do with these forfeited benefits or for any other questions.

Did you know that a Missing Information Report^{[ Note 1 ]} is posted in your account on the Plan Sponsor Services site each month? This report lists any plan member information missing from our records.

To avoid any unpleasant surprises, you should contact plan members whose records are incomplete, especially if their enrolment information is missing.

Here’s what happens if the plan member is not enrolled, for each plan type:

For voluntary retirement savings plans (VRSPs), enrolment is automatic. However, you may receive a Missing Information Report if a plan member’s beneficiary or personal information is missing. Please ask your plan members to send us the information through their online account via dfs.ca/GroupPlanMember Opens in a new window. or via the Omni app.

To view the report:

• Go to the Report centre tile
• Open the Missing Information Report tab

Questions about the Missing Information Report? Contact your dedicated administrator or call Plan Sponsor Services at 1-888-510-4762.

Why not use automated communications? By subscribing to this type of email communication, plan members will receive the right message at the right time.

List of available communications:

• Missing application (RRSP)
• Missing Beneficiary
• Default Fund
• Investor Profile
• On Target Retirement^®

Contact your client relationship manager now to sign up!

If plan members want to make a cash withdrawal from their registered plan^{[ Note 3 ]}, and if the plan and its legislation permit, the following deadlines must be met in order for the taxable amount of the withdrawal to be included in the income tax return for the 2022 tax year.

Note that we don’t recommend making cash withdrawals from registered plans since the whole purpose is to save for retirement.

If plan members have any questions, they can call our Customer Contact Centre at 1-800-968-3587, Monday to Friday, from 8 AM to 8 PM (ET). One of our agents will be happy to help them.

We would like to draw your attention to 3 important articles from the How to section that have been published since the beginning of the year.

Other important How to articles published since January 2022

Starting late in 2022 and during 2023, BlackRock^® will be making modifications to the composition of its LifePath^® suite of target date funds (LifePath) to address Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) risks and opportunities and position the portfolios to meet investors’ needs over a long investment horizon. Only the equity portions of the LifePath funds will change during this time with the aim of improving ESG considerations without sacrificing returns or significantly affecting the portfolios’ risk profile. The fixed income and inflation protection portions of these funds will remain the same at this time.

The table below presents, in bold, an overview of the exposure changes resulting from this transition of the equity portions of the funds:

It’s expected that these ESG-focused LifePath Funds will generate similar and potentially better investment outcomes. BlackRock’s research suggests that effective ESG management strengthens corporations’ financial performance and long-term success. Additionally, ESG strategies have shown to be more resilient during periods of market turbulence. BlackRock will spread out the transition to the new ESG focus indices over the end of 2022 and most of 2023 to minimize transition costs and market impact. This modification doesn’t impact the LifePath funds’ investment objective or glidepath. The funds’ investment fees will also remain the same. However, for non-registered accounts, the trading activity of the underlying funds may trigger a taxable event and there will likely be implications for the 2022 and 2023 tax years for plan members.

For more information about these changes, please contact your client relationship manager.

Desjardins Insurance is proud to announce the addition of the Fiera Comox Private Credit Opportunities Fund to the composition of its Multi-Manager Private Credit Fund. This addition is intended primarily to increase the level of diversification within the Fund’s portfolio of underlying private strategies. The initial commitment towards this new fund made in October 2022 was set at 15% of the Multi-Manager Private Credit Fund. Following this addition, the target allocation to the PIMCO Private Income Fund will gradually move from 50% to 35%, while the Fund’s exposure to its other underlying funds will remain unchanged.

The Fiera Comox Private Credit Opportunities Fund is a diversified portfolio of global corporate private credit instruments that aims to generate attractive absolute returns over the long term while preserving capital. It seeks to build and maintain a portfolio of approximately 20 investments, concentrating on senior and subordinated debt while opportunistically investing in junior credit instruments. The fund manager considers various financing transactions, primarily with mid-market companies in the United States and Europe, including acquisitions, refinancings, dividend recapitalization and growth financing. It seeks to optimize the portfolio for performance across economic cycles, looking for 4 main characteristics across all investments: (i) quality companies; (ii) high contractual returns; (iii) tight and restrictive legal documentation; and (iv) downside protection in the event of an economic downturn.

About the Multi-Manager Private Credit Fund

This fund is composed of a portfolio of underlying funds that seeks to maximize current income while limiting interest rate sensitivity. It invests in different Canadian and foreign fixed income funds, primarily targeting private strategies that can cover corporate lending, consumer lending, real estate debt and infrastructure debt, as well as other lower-liquidity assets such as bank loans. The fund will also invest a limited portion of its assets in publicly traded fixed income securities.

To know more about this change, contact your client relationship manager.

On October 19, 2022, AllianceBernstein announced the departure of Michelle Dunstan, Chief Responsibility Officer. Erin Bigley, previously head of responsible investment for the fixed income division will replace Ms. Dunstan as CRO.

On October 26, 2022, Comgest announced the appointment of Franz Weiss as CIO of the firm as of 2023. Arnaud Cosserat will remain CEO and member of the firm’s Investment Committee but will gradually delegate his CIO responsibilities to Mr. Weiss during 2023.