Home-country bias is a conversation that ebbs and flows, with U.S. investment returns since the 2008/09 financial crisis reigniting the conversation, said Jon Knowles, institutional portfolio manager in global asset allocation at Fidelity Investments. However, it’s important to ask how to appropriately deal with home-country bias against a backdrop where one market and limited diversification […]
For defined contribution plan members, the evolution of education and engagement has passed several milestones, including the introduction of email and mobile apps. “At Manulife, we’ve reached a point where we have two-thirds of logins going through the mobile app and one-third going through the website,” said Marc-Antoine Morin, the record-keeper’s assistant vice-president of group […]
An emerging trend in U.S. defined contribution investment strategies is the ‘blend trend,’ which is a target-date solution that allocates to underlying building blocks that are managed both actively and passively. During a session at Benefits Canada’s 2025 DC Plan Summit, Jessica Sclafani, global retirement strategist at T. Rowe Price, shared data from the investment […]
With no federal requirement for U.S. employers to offer retirement savings options, individual states are stepping up and delivering meaningful programs. Speaking at Benefits Canada’s 2025 Defined Contribution Plan Summit, Michael Frerichs, state treasurer at the Illinois Treasurer’s Office, said the U.S. is facing a retirement crisis and he hopes these government tools can be […]
Rather than a single defined contribution plan sponsor tackling the decumulation dilemma alone, decisions need to be reframed as a decumulation ecosystem, said Nicole Lomax, vice-president and portfolio manager in institutional asset allocation at TD Asset Management Inc. During a session at Benefits Canada’s 2025 DC Plan Summit, she outlined the five decumulation priorities based […]
Since 2008, when the U.S. enacted legislation allowing target-date funds as the default, total assets in these funds have grown from around US$150 billion to $3 trillion, according to Glenn Dial, vice-president of retirement thought leadership and research at American Century Investments, during a session sponsored by CIBC Asset Management Inc. at Benefits Canada’s 2025 […]
In the early days of Bell Canada’s defined contribution plan, there was a lot of emphasis on information and big campaigns, but at that time, employers were reluctant to get too involved, according to Robert Marchessault, the telecommunications company’s director of pension and benefits, noting it was soon clear its members needed more guidance. Speaking […]
The evolution of pension plans from retirement tools to encompassing flexible savings models that prioritize financial wellness is a defining change over the past 25 years in the defined contribution pension industry, said Wendy Mizuno, senior vice-president of total rewards at Loblaw Companies Ltd, during a panel session at Benefits Canada’s 2025 DC Plan Summit […]
Two-thirds (67 per cent) of U.S. retirement savers are concerned about their income lasting their lifetime, while 30 per cent are extremely or very concerned, according to a new survey by Global Financial Atlantic Group. The survey polled individual investors between the ages of 55 and 75 with US$250,000 and $2 million in investable assets […]
An article on an Ontario court’s decision that an employer’s return-to-workplace request amounted to constructive dismissal was the most-read story on BenefitsCanada.com this past week. Here are the top five human resources, benefits, pension and investment stories of the last week: 1. Ontario court rules employer’s return-to-workplace request amounts to constructive dismissal 2. Nestle, Unifor […]