May 2024 Edition

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) requires all employers who sponsor a registered pension plan (RPP)^[Note 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, up to a maximum of 100 days (minimum penalty of $100).

A connected person^[Note 2] is an individual who meets 1 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 a spouse, child, sibling, parent, in-law);
• A trust for which the person is the beneficiary; or
• A partnership of which the person is a partner.

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

We’ll start producing the June financial statements shortly. To ensure your plan members receive their paper or e-statements, their postal and email addresses must be up to date in our systems.

You can help us out by:

• Reminding them to change their addresses themselves in their online account via dfs.ca/GroupPlanMember or the Omni Desjardins app. Once logged in, your plan members can update their addresses by selecting My profile, or the icon in the top right corner of the screen, and then Edit in the Information box.

• Doing it for them on the plan sponsor site External link. Opens in a new window.
• Click Log on and then select Group retirement savings
• Enter your user ID and password
• Click Participant management
• Search for the person whose address has changed and make the necessary corrections

If you have a lot of changes to make, you can send them to us in a standard demographic file.

Thank you for helping us keep your plan members’ information up to date.

For more details, please contact your client relationship manager or call Plan Sponsor Services at 1-888-510-4762

CC&L

In April 2024, the firm announced the nomination of TJ Sutter, Portfolio Manager, Fixed Income, as Co-Head of the Fixed Income team. This latest announcement is a continuation of the changes, announced last March, in view of the retirement of Brian Eby, the most senior member of the fixed-income management team.

The Desjardins Insurance Group Retirement Savings Investment Solutions team sees this change as having a major impact with regards to the DFS CC&L Bond Fund and DFS CC&L Long Term Bond Fund. Brian’s departure reduces the seniority of the macroeconomic team, at a time when a significant part of the added value of fixed-income strategies comes from macroeconomic decisions. CC&L has nonetheless carefully planned for Brian’s retirement, transferring leadership of the team to David George in 2022 and co-leadership with TJ in 2024. We’ll monitor the situation closely over the coming months and provide updates as necessary.

DGAM

In April 2024, the firm announced the hiring of its first analyst as part of its research reorganization. He currently covers US and Canadian industrial and materials securities.

The Desjardins Insurance Group Retirement Savings Investment Solutions team sees this change as having a moderate impact with regards to the DGAM Canadian Equity Fund. We’ll monitor the situation over the coming months and provide updates as necessary.

Desjardins Insurance is proud to announce the addition of the Fidelity ClearPath^® Index Plus Institutional target date fund series (Income, 2020, 2025, 2030, 2035, 2040, 2045, 2050, 2055 and 2060) to its group retirement savings platform, effective June 10, 2024. Launched by Fidelity in 2023, these funds broaden our target date offering with the addition of a low-cost solution that continues making asset allocation adjustments after retirement.

The Fidelity ClearPath^®Index Plus Institutional Funds follow the same asset allocation glidepath and are managed by the same investment team as the other 2 Fidelity target date fund series already offered on the platform. However, they’re designed to provide exposure to public equity and fixed-income markets primarily through index-tracking underlying building blocks. Like the Fidelity ClearPath^® Institutional Funds, the investments are complemented by alternative asset classes to improve portfolio diversification.

Unlike the other Fidelity target date solutions, the Fidelity ClearPath^® Index Plus Institutional Funds focus exclusively on strategic asset classes, which are expected to provide satisfactory long-term returns and improve portfolio diversification. The funds aren’t meant to make opportunistic use of extended asset classes, such as high-yield bonds and emerging market debt, and they’re not subject to active asset allocation decisions.

About the Fidelity ClearPath^® Index Plus Institutional Funds

This target date solution is predominantly invested in fixed-income and equity index strategies, with an exposure to alternative investments. The funds’ asset allocation evolves based on a predetermined glidepath designed to grow more conservative over time, until their target retirement date and over a period of approximately 20 years after that date.

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