Employee benefits and total rewards planning have always been a critical element of business planning, but never more so than during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Mercer Canada conducted a recent client poll which showed that unlike previous years, most Canadian organizations still had not set their salary adjustment budget for 2021 as of early November. While […]
As more companies integrate diversity, equality and inclusion strategies into their workplaces, listening and leadership are among the keys to a successful program, according to a webinar hosted by Mercer Canada on Thursday. The company held a series of special listening sessions for staff following the deaths of Black civilians during police encounters in the […]
As Canada’s pension landscape has evolved over the past 45 years, Michel St-Germain has been helping plan sponsors navigate it all. St-Germain, who is currently president of the Canadian Institute of Actuaries, retired as a partner from Mercer in June 2020 after first joining the organization on Jan. 1, 1975. When looking back at his […]
The Canadian Investment Review Editorial Advisory Board members are listed below: Ryan Bradley Christopher A. Brown Chuck Bruce Anish Chopra Jason Campbell James C. Davis Michael Dodd Simon Fréchet Alison Gould Paul Halpern Lynn Healey Brenda King Wendy Mizuno Theva Naidoo Arti Sharma Pamela Steer Ryan Bradley Investment Officer, Province of Prince Edward Island Ryan […]
Before the pandemic hit, momentum was building to fight climate change, said Eli Angen, a principal in responsible investing, strategy and risk at the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. At the Canadian Investment Review’s 2020 Global Investment Conference in September, Angen pointed to the decreasing cost of the energy transition and greater societal and business awareness […]
Canada’s retirement income system scored ninth place for the second year in a row, securing a “B” rating in spite of uncertainty in the markets as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The annual global pension index by Mercer and the CFA Institute noted the pandemic’s effects on the global pension fund markets aren’t only widespread […]
Defined contribution pensions are taking a bumpy ride in the coronavirus pandemic, with plan sponsors and their members facing volatile stock markets, financial uncertainty and interruptions to business as usual. Whether related to plan design, investment options, decumulation or overall financial well-being and education, what issues are taking the spotlight this year and what changes […]
The funded positions of Canadian defined benefit pension plans continued to recover in the third quarter of 2020, but major risks lie ahead, according to both Mercer Canada’s latest pension health index and Aon’s latest median solvency ratio survey. Mercer’s index, which represents the solvency ratio of a hypothetical DB pension plan, increased from 101 […]
Many human resources teams that are planning 2021 salary adjustments and possible changes to total rewards programs need to focus on immediate ways to keep employee morale up as the coronavirus pandemic rages on, while also focusing on the longer term retention and attraction of top talent. The ongoing economic uncertainty wrought by the pandemic means many Canadian […]
Since retirees and active plan members are fundamentally different, should their investment options reflect that distinction? That’s the question confronting defined contribution plan sponsors as they explore the relatively new world of in-plan decumulation. As of January, when the Ontario government passed a series of new regulations under the Pension Benefits Act, the majority of […]