Market Watch
Desjardins Insurance recently launched an augmented reality (AR) mobile app to better engage employees in retirement planning. AR takes a slice of the real world (such as a pay stub) and adds to it things such as video, games and animation. To make a realworld slice come to life with multimedia, the user points his or her mobile device to it, with the app installed.
desjardins.com

Financial Executives International Canada, a professional membership association for financial executives, and Queens’s School of Business have started a program for Canada’s chief financial officers (CFOs). The CFO Leadership Beyond Finance Program combines an in-class curriculum with reallife experiences. Instructors include university faculty, industry experts and CFOsin- residence.
feicanada.org
business.queensu.ca

Mercer has launched FSM Pro, an online platform offering Canadian DB plan sponsors funding and plan information. With daily updates on asset and liability movements, the tool automatically monitors a pension plan’s funded position on an accounting basis. For 2015, it will also monitor a plan’s position on a funding basis (including solvency and windup). FSM Pro allows users to vary key assumptions— such as salary increases and mortality—to forecast accounting balance sheets as well as profit and loss figures.
mercer.ca

Meet an advisory board member: Dr. David Satok, corporate medical director, Rogers Communications Inc.

What do you like best about your current job?
I love the fact that we can have an impact on people’s health earlier than would normally occur in the community. Because we’re in the workplace, we can actually impact things much earlier. We have a better opportunity in terms of prevention and education. Rather than dealing with illness, we’re actually dealing with wellness.

What is Canada’s biggest corporate health issue right now?
Mental health is the No. 1 issue in Canada, whether it be corporate Canada or society at large. People are more willing to talk about it, and now they’re going to start asking questions about dealing with it. We’ve got a big challenge ahead of us in terms of how we get people treatment in a timely, appropriate manner.

What’s the main wellness rule you follow in your personal life?
There are lots of different areas you can look at in terms of wellness. I think the most important thing is your family. You have to make sure your spouse is well, your kids are well, your parents are well. It’s very hard to take care of yourself if your family is not well. Once I get that done, it’s on to physical activity and nutrition, and all of those basics.

Events
Face to Face: Drug Plan Management
Dec. 12, 2014
Fairmont Royal York, Toronto
As chronic conditions become more prevalent in Canada and the use of biologics increases, employers need to manage their drug spend effectively and understand the return on their investment. New designs and distribution options may offer savings for drug plan sponsors, but it’s also important to consider their impact on members. What should employers do to make their drug plans sustainable for the future? This half-day event includes interactive panel discussions, allowing stakeholders to share common problems and solutions.

DC Plan Summit
Feb. 17 to 19, 2015
Fairmont Château Lake Louise, Alta.
The Canadian workforce in general—and the DC industry in particular—is seeing a demographic shift as baby boomers transition to retirement, leading to a change in focus toward the payout phase. Will plan members be able to retire on track? Are they saving enough? Are the right tools and solutions in place to ensure successful outcomes for future employee generations? This year’s summit—themed The Next Wave—will explore those issues through interactive sessions and unique global perspectives from DC plan sponsors in the U.K., Sweden, the U.S. and Canada. Find more information on this and other industry events at benefitscanada.com/conferences

The month in numbers
$4,884 – the average amount Canadians expect to contribute to their tax-free savings accounts in 2014 — BMO Survey
56% of Canadian employers sponsor retiree benefits plans — Aon Hewitt 2014 rapid response survey

Correction
Since publication of our November 2014 Top 40 Money Managers report, Hillsdale Investment Management has restated its 2013 figure to $354.2 million with a year-overyear increase of 28.9%, putting the firm at No. 4 on the Top 5 Fastest Growing – Less than $1.0 billion chart.
See the revised chart at benefitscanada.com/2014top40