When global HR consulting firm Mercer decided in November 2012 to transfer much of its Canadian pension and group benefits outsourcing business to competitor Morneau Shepell, it surprised many industry watchers. It also got them thinking. What prompts one consulting firm to invest in outsourcing and another to focus elsewhere? Bill Morneau, executive chairman of […]
Actions taken by U.S. employers in 2012 to better manage their health plans led to the country’s lowest average annual cost increase since 1997, according to results from a recent Mercer study.
The Bank of Canada’s focus on transparency and credibility—and its ability to effectively communicate its actions—has helped drive the responsible financial habits of Canadians, said bank governor Mark Carney in a speech given Dec.11.
The recent announcement that global HR consulting firm Mercer had decided to transfer much of its Canadian pension and group benefits outsourcing business to Morneau Shepell, a competitor in this country, came as a surprise to many. Aside from the specific issue of why Mercer opted to take this step, the news has prompted a greater focus on the HR outsourcing landscape and why some firms have opted to provide these services while others have not.
When Claude Lamoureux first started at the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan in 1990, the organization had just hired Mercer’s Malcolm Hamilton to be the board’s actuary. “The first week I was there, he was scheduled to give an introductory talk. I thought I would get caught up on my reading during this boring actuary’s presentation,” he recalls. “After the first few minutes, I thought, Wow, this guy isn’t a traditional consultant. We’re going to have a lot of fun together.”
"Engage, engage, engage” is an apt mantra for the capital accumulation plan (CAP) industry. With disappointing levels of employee engagement in Canadian retirement savings plans, plan sponsors continue to search for ways that inspire employees to save enough for retirement. One potential solution is automatic enrollment with automatic escalation—features that some believe could boost participation rates, particularly among younger workers, and address the engagement issue, too.
For years Cheryl Lundrigan has taken a prescription drug to treat chronic depression. Although she had started out taking Zoloft when first diagnosed, once the drug became available in the less expensive generic format, she switched to Sertraline. But recently she suffered a relapse and the medication didn’t seem to be help any more. Rather than switch to another anti-depressant, Lundrigan’s physician suggested that she go back to the original brand version of the drug to see if it would have a more positive effect than the generic.
I learned a few helpful lessons about planning procurements while taking a project management course. For instance, I learned that it’s not unusual for an organization to look to the marketplace for major outsourcing needs, especially when it doesn’t have the competency to deliver certain functions internally. A textbook case springs to mind: when The […]
Canada is projected to see a 4% drop in its working-age population over the next eight years, putting additional pressure on underfunded plans, according to new research from Mercer.
A new survey from Mercer has found that more than half of U.K. pension plans due to start automatically enrolling all employees into pension plans are “postponing” when an employee joins the plan.