Conference Coverage: 2022 Defined Contribution Investment Forum

For the first time in three years, Canadian defined contribution pension plan sponsors, investment professionals and industry thought leaders gathered in person for Benefits Canada’s 2022 DC Investment Forum.

On Sept. 23 at the Ritz-Carlton Toronto, the full educational day covered topics such as behavioural finance, target-date funds, sustainable investing, real estate and fixed income, as well as a look at how Saskatchewan’s Public Employees Pension Plan is including alternative investments in its DC plan portfolios and the legal considerations for DC plan sponsors around environmental, social and governance investing.

Find out what you missed:

Preet Banerjee
Personal finance expert
Using behavioural finance concepts to improve DC plan participation, contribution rates

Alongside the steady decline of defined benefit pension coverage in Canada, defined contribution plans have seen a massive growth — “a secular shift of responsibility onto the individual when it comes to retirement security in Canada,” according to Preet Banerjee, a personal finance expert.

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Derek Beane
MFS Investment Management

Sarah E. Donahue
MFS Institutional Advisors Inc.

Understanding sequence of returns risk in target-date funds

When defined contribution plan sponsors conduct due diligence on target-date fund providers, they’re often considering questions of active versus passively managed funds, the benefits of glide paths that glide to versus through retirement, strategic versus tactical funds and a provider’s approach to environmental, social and governance investing.

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Satwik Misra
Sun Life Global Investments

Jenifer Rush
Sun Life Global Investments

A look at target-date fund managers’ varying approaches to ESG investing

Responsible investing can drive stronger risk-adjusted returns and is increasingly being seen as a tool for prudent risk management, but defined contribution plan sponsors must understand target-date fund managers’ varying approaches to implementing environmental, social and governance factors into these funds.

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Michael Greenberg
Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions
Best practices for incorporating sustainable investing into target-date funds

As greater numbers of defined contribution pension plan members ask for environmental, social and governance-friendly investment options, plan sponsors will need to grapple with how to implement these solutions into their target-date funds.

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Joseph Shaw
Hazelview Investments
How DC plan sponsors can use REITs to meet investment objectives

While real estate has long been a part of defined benefit pension plans’ asset allocations, its inclusion in investment portfolios has steadily climbed in recent years. But defined contribution plan sponsors and members also stand to benefit from the asset class’s inflation-hedging properties, as well as its ability to boost income and improve portfolio diversification.

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Kevin Minas
CIBC Asset Management
The role of alternative fixed income sectors, strategies in DC plans

Rising interest rates and market turmoil have called into question the ability of core fixed income to provide pension plan sponsors with its traditional benefits of stable returns and income, diversification and capital preservation.

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Gary Hutch
Saskatchewan’s Public Employees Pension Plan
How Saskatchewan’s PEPP is adding alternative investments to its DC plan portfolios

When Saskatchewan’s Public Employees Pension Plan decided to make investments in alternative assets, it took a defined benefit approach to its defined contribution pension plan, giving its members access to private equity and infrastructure while still offering daily liquidity.

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Kathy Bush
Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP
What are the legal considerations for ESG investing for DC plan sponsors?

Increasingly, defined contribution plan sponsors are grappling with adding environmental, social and governance investing options to their plans as a growing number of members ask for them, but the legal landscape for ESG investing is complicated, according to Kathy Bush, partner at Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP.

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Sponsors
Supporting Sponsors
Keynote Sponsor

To view highlights from previous DC Investment Forums, click here.