October 2023 Edition

In an interview with the Benefits and Pensions Monitor, Marie-France Amyot, Vice-President, Group Benefits and Retirement Savings, explains how she plans to continue modernizing Desjardins's group business. Among other things, she reveals that her main objectives revolve around customer-focused solutions and operational excellence for the benefit of our clients and plan members.

Find out how this transformation is playing out by reading the full article (PDF, 111 KB) - This link opens in a new window..

 

Marie-France Amyot, Vice-President, Group Benefits and Retirement Savings

Explore how Desjardins is paving the way by taking a holistic approach to wellness and reinventing benefits to better meet current challenges.

Read the article in the  - This link opens in a new window.Financial Post.

To mark Financial Literacy Month, we’ll be inviting plan members to watch a new "game show" in which contestants test their personal financial skills.

At some point in our financial journey, we’re all looking for useful information based on our goals and needs. That’s why our campaign aims to support plan members with the knowledge they need, at the right time, and to provide them with tips on how to achieve their financial goals.

They’ll be able to watch 3 episodes on different topics:

1. Setting up an emergency fund
2. Managing income and expenses
3. Estate planning

Your plan members will receive an email in November. In addition to introducing the 3 episodes, we’ll direct them to our Wellness Centre and Education Centre, where they’ll find other resources related to the concepts discussed in the videos that can help them plan their financial future and take action.

Some problems can have major financial and tax implications for your plan members.

Avoid:

• A payment without a corresponding contribution list
• Unpaid contributions
• Discrepancies between contribution lists and payments
• Missing enrolments

Consequences:

For RRSPs, TFSAs and non-registered plans, investments can’t be made until the discrepancy has been resolved or the missing information has been provided.

In addition, RRSP contribution receipts (‟receipts”) can’t be issued if there is missing or incorrect information.

Here’s what happens:

Did you know that pre-authorized debits (PAD) could help you avoid certain problems regarding contributions? Find out how in the article  - This link opens in a new window.Remitting contributions: Save time with pre-authorized debits.

Find out more about the tax implications of missing enrolments in our  - This link opens in a new window.November 2022 article.

Since the end of September, we’ve been mailing and posting the benefits statement online for employees who are turning 71 this year. They’ll need to make a choice in order to transfer the assets in their retirement savings plan by the end of the year^{[ Note 1 ]}.

We’re asking them to return their benefits statement (where they’ve indicated their choice) by December 1 in order to get a head start on the plan conversion.

However, the Canada Revenue Agency gives them until December 31, 2023, to make the choice. If we don’t hear back from them, we’ll apply the procedure for failure to respond. This procedure is explained in their benefits statement.

What to do if a plan member didn’t receive their benefits statement

1. Check that we have the correct mailing address.

If not, make the necessary changes.

You can remind them to change it themselves with the Omni Desjardins app or on the secure site at dfs.ca/GroupPlanMember. You can also do it for them on dfs.ca/plansponsor.




IMPORTANT: If you’re a Desjardins Employer Solutions (DES) client (formerly Desjardins Payroll and Human Resources Services – DPHRS), make your changes on the Employer D platform since these changes will be transferred to the plan sponsor services site the next time data is transferred.

Caution: If you change any information only in the Group retirement savings file, either by phone or on the plan sponsor services site, your changes will be overwritten by the information from Employer D the next time data is transferred. This is why it’s important to make the changes in Employer D.



2. Invite them to download their online copy or request a paper copy.

Plan members can access their benefits statement via their online account by selecting My statements and documents > Financial statements > Benefits statement.

Plan members who want a paper version will have to call the Customer Contact Centre at 1-800-968-3587 to receive their new benefits statement.

Reminder for the final contributions

Let us know by November 15 if you plan on remitting any contributions for these employees between now and the end of 2023. These contributions must be received by December 1, 2023, to prevent any processing delays. Any contributions sent after December 31, 2023, will be returned to you, even if the reference payroll period is earlier.

If you have any questions, please call your plan administrator or Plan Sponsor Services at 1-888-510-4762.

In the coming months, PH&N will be introducing a new global direct infrastructure strategy to the PH&N Balanced Pension Trust Fund, offered on our Desjardins Insurance group retirement savings platform through the DFS PH&N Balanced Fund. This change aims to improve the fund’s diversification and benefit from the exposure to a new asset class available following an expansion of the manager’s investment capacities. The fund’s strategic allocation to global direct infrastructure will be set at 2%, with an initial allocation established at 1%. This allocation will be deployed over time and will be funded by allocations to both equities and fixed-income securities.

PH&N will also be introducing a strategic allocation of 4.5% to global investment grade corporate bonds. This allocation will be funded by a portion of the current allocation of 7.5% to the global bond fund, which invests primarily in sovereign bonds. This change aims to better balance the fund’s exposure to global sovereign bonds and corporate bonds, and to increase the return expected from the bond component of the fund.

For the moment, the fund’s benchmark will remain the same. The manager will reassess the fund’s strategic weightings and benchmark once the allocation to global direct infrastructure reaches its long-term objective of 2%.

These modifications will not have any impact on the DFS PH&N Balanced Fund’s investment fee.

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

Grandeur Peak recently announced the departure of Stuart Rigby, Co-portfolio Manager of the Emerging Markets Opportunities Fund and also involved in the management of the US Stalwarts strategy. He’s leaving the firm to launch a technology hedge fund.

The Desjardins Insurance Group Retirement Savings Investment Solutions team believes that this change has a moderate impact on the Desjardins Global Small Cap Equity (Multi-Manager) Fund, as the departure may affect the workload of the managers responsible for the strategy in which the fund is invested. We’ll monitor the situation over the coming quarters and provide updates as needed.