February 2024 Edition

Plan members can now take advantage of the account transfer feature available via dfs.ca/GroupPlanMember and the Omni app.

Since the beginning of February, plan members with plans at other financial institutions are able to autonomously submit electronic account transfer requests to us. This new paperless process enables them to make the most of their group program, which offers lower fees and diversified funds.

Our ever-evolving online resources encourage the consolidation of assets in the group program. They foster plan member participation and commitment to both their financial wellness and their employer.

If you have questions, contact your client relationship manager or regional sales director.

The bonus management solution makes the allocation of remittances simple. At the end of each bonus data collection period, you’ll receive a detailed report that tells you how plan members want to transfer their bonus to the plan of their choice. All that’s left for you to do is to process the transactions.

What about DPSPs?

A bonus payable to an employee provided for in an employment contract or collective agreement cannot be paid into a DPSP. Only employer contributions can be paid into it. However, an employer contribution to a DPSP that’s contingent on a precondition, such as employee performance, can be made to the plan if it’s paid out of profits or by reference to profits, and is permitted under the plan.^[Note 1]

To sign up for bonus management

Contact your dedicated administrator or call Plan Sponsor Services at 1-888-510-4762.

When making your contribution remittances, incorrect or missing information can cause error messages, whether you’re using the contribution remittance interface or the standard file.

Two common situations and their solutions in case of error messages:

1. Contribution remittance interface
   

   Situation: You pre-enrolled a new plan member and entered a contribution remittance, and then got an error message.

   Solution: Please wait 24 hours after pre-enrolling a new plan member before entering a contribution remittance to allow time for our system to be updated.

2. Standard file
   

   Situation: You sent the standard file and got the following message:

Solution: The message tells you exactly where the mistakes are. Simply follow these steps:

• In the Excel file, correct the row indicated in the message.
• Rename the file by adding an underscore and R at the end of the original name (e.g., G00123456_COT_20230304_R).
• 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’ve 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 or call Plan Sponsor Services at 1-888-510-4762 or send a note to grs_plansponsor@dfs.ca.

Here’s a summary of what’s changing:

Around mid-March 2024, one of the sub-managers of the Desjardins Global Small Cap Equity Fund, offered on the group retirement savings platform, will be modified by Desjardins Investments. More specifically, the mandate managed by Lazard Asset Management will be replaced by a mandate managed by Wellington Management Canada according to the Global Perspectives strategy. The weight allocated to this new mandate within the fund will remain in line with the current weight of the Lazard mandate (65-70%). The fund will therefore continue to employ a multi-manager approach, with Grandeur Peak Global Advisors staying in place as sub-manager.

The fund’s fundamental objective will remain the same, which is to provide long-term capital appreciation by investing in a diversified portfolio of small- and mid-cap securities from global stock markets. The investment strategy will, however, be modified to reflect the new mandate, which will display the following key characteristics:

• The mandate will follow a multidisciplinary investment process in terms of stock selection.
• The manager will favour stocks that have inexpensive or fair valuations, solid earnings quality, positive signals from management behaviour and increasing favourable sentiment.
• A macroeconomic assessment will be used in conjunction with a quantitative model which looks at factors such as fair value, earnings quality, risks and transaction costs to narrow the investment universe.
• A fundamental analysis will be used to identify compelling mispricings across many different types of companies, regions, and opportunities.

This modification won’t have any impact on the fund’s fees.

For more information about these changes, don’t hesitate to contact your client relationship manager.