Canada is the only developed country without a national securities regulator. And the six panelists at the peer-to-peer roundtable, held Friday afternoon at the Toronto Stock Exchange, were all in agreement that it’s about time this changed. “A common securities regulator [CSR] would make the regulation of our markets more responsive, more accountable by creating […]
It’s no surprise that good, happy workplaces can result in employee satisfaction, engagement and loyalty. But good benefits plans can also play a role, as results from the 2007 sanofi-aventis Healthcare Survey, presented today in Toronto, indicate. Other than salary, survey respondents defined a “good job” as being treated well by an organization(96%), having supportive […]
Erol Uzumeri has been named the new manager for the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan’s $8-billion private equity and venture capital portfolio. Joining Teachers’ in 2003, Uzumeri is currently responsible for international private equity investments and has been involved in a number of acquisitions at Teachers’, including Toshiba Ceramics and New Zealand Yellow Pages Group. Mark […]
John Watson continues to mentor young investors and pass along his years of experience. John Watson says he bleeds blue. Leafs paraphernalia—including a huge photograph of the last game at Maple Leaf Gardens—punctuates his 13th floor office at Sprucegrove Investment Management in Toronto. Born and raised in Toronto, the fit 63-year-old also plays hockey year-round […]
As his name indicates, Gerry Good has gone above and beyond as the chair of the City of Regina Pension Investment Board. Unlike the other officers on the Regina Police Service, Gerry Good actually looked forward to stakeouts. “I did a lot of drug enforcement work in the ’80s, and when we’d be doing surveillance—you’d […]
AstraZeneca’s Bev Haines gets personal with plan member communications. Trying to get defined contribution pension plan members to diversify their assets isn’t easy. Case in point, AstraZeneca. At the end of last year, a large number of employees at the pharmaceutical company in Mississauga, Ont., had 30% or more of their assets in the default […]
Whether opening global markets to pension funds or communicating with indifferent plan members, thousands of individuals go above and beyond to demonstrate leadership and innovation in their contributions to the retirement security of Canadian employees and their families. This year, Benefits Canada honours three such individuals for outstanding achievement in the following categories: Pension […]
The Canadian Cancer Society estimated almost 160,000 new cases of cancer for 2007. And 30% of these cases and 18% of deaths will occur in young and middle-aged adults, our working population. Colleen Savage, president and CEO of the Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada, discusses the effects of this disease on both the employer and […]
At this year’s Solutions in Drug Plan Management Conference, experts, employers and health professionals shared how they’re promoting workplace health programs and helping employees take charge of their health—for everyone’s benefit. Cost containment is an issue for any business, especially when it comes to health and drug spending. As one approach to keeping costs down, […]
It’s not easy to get the right fit for the right job. According to a survey by the staffing firm OfficeTeam, 59% of the 400 Canadian and American human resources(HR)managers surveyed admitted they were wrong about a candidate’s fit for a job. However, the survey indicated that job searchers are also guilty of error. Of […]