The retirement dreams of many Canadians are in jeopardy. The uncertain and volatile markets have robbed plan members of confidence in their retirement savings, including their DC plans. It’s time for DC plan sponsors to act.
Be it in communication and education plans or governance structures and ideas for pension reform, leading industry experts are ready to embrace change to help members reach their retirement goals.
More than 75 of these leading thinkers joined Benefits Canada in Mont Tremblant, Que., for our two-day DC Plan Summit to explore what needs to be done and how to go about it. Throughout the 11 presentations, five key themes—the role of social media, governance, investment insights, retirement planning and pension reform—emerged. For those plan sponsors ready to act, these are key ideas worth exploring:
- The growing role of social media
- Current trends in DC plan governance
- Investment insights for DC plans
- Retirement planning and transition
- Pension reform prospects
Though the market is still volatile and plan members remain uncertain about their retirement goals, the leading thinkers at the DC Plan Summit were optimistic about what plan sponsors can do to help.
Current pension reform efforts and potential future changes point to a commitment from governments to address the challenges that the industry faces.
So whether it’s implementing social media to improve plan communication or refining investment options, plan sponsors have an increasing number of tools to improve the retirement realities of their members. No one says it will be easy, but the time to act has arrived.
Leigh Doyle is a freelance writer based in Toronto. leigh.doyle@gmail.com
View exclusive on-site video coverage of the conference on BenefitsCanadaTV.
Get a PDF of this article and other coverage from the 2012 DC Plan Summit.