Home Lauren Bailey

Several stakeholders from the benefits sector are partnering to form the Smart Health Benefits Coalition, an advocacy group that aims to strengthen the health-care system and address longstanding gaps in care. The federal government will release the framework for its pharmacare program on March 1 and the coalition — comprised of representatives from Gallagher, Benefits Alliance, GroupHEALTH, Hub International Ltd., […]

  • February 27, 2024 February 28, 2024
  • 09:00

The University Pension Plan is launching a new web portal to prioritize plan member engagement throughout the year. “Transparency is an important value to our members,” says Joanna Lohrenz, the plan’s chief pension services officer, noting the website will provide members with account details and allow them to update their personal information, run a pension […]

  • February 26, 2024 February 23, 2024
  • 09:00

While more than a third (38 per cent) of U.S. employers are offering employees a paid-time-off bank, up slightly from in 2017 (34 per cent), nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) say most workers don’t use it due to a heavy workload, according to a new survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. The […]

  • February 13, 2024 February 12, 2024
  • 09:00

More than a quarter (29 per cent) of Canadian employees say they want to reduce in-office work, with three-quarters (76 per cent) citing saving time and money from less frequent commuting as top reasons for doing so, according to a survey by Robert Half Canada Inc. The survey, which polled more than 1,300 hiring managers […]

  • February 2, 2024 February 2, 2024
  • 09:00

The Pension Investment Association of Canada will concentrate its legislative advocacy efforts on funding reform in 2024, including for an overhaul of long-term, minimum funding regulations for federally regulated defined benefit pension plans, said David Lawson, the PIAC’s new chair. In an emailed statement to Benefits Canada, he said as DB plan sponsors continue to face […]

  • January 18, 2024 January 17, 2024
  • 09:00

To find opportunity in times of volatility, institutional investors must consider their objectives and then expand their toolkit, said Saurabh Sud, a portfolio manager at T. Rowe Price, during the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2023 Investment Innovation Conference in November. It’s been a challenging environment for most fixed-rate assets with surging yields and higher volatility.  As a […]

  • January 18, 2024 January 17, 2024
  • 07:53

With hybrid and remote working arrangements becoming increasingly common, employers can take an inclusive approach to help employees with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder feel more engaged and productive, says Dr. Marie-Hélène Geoffroy, a family medicine physician at the Cleveland Clinic Canada. “ADHD needs structure and remote working requires individuals to manage their own schedule and tasks, […]

  • December 12, 2023 December 13, 2023
  • 09:00

More than half (53 per cent) of the world’s largest pension funds say the prospect of a global recession is their No. 1 short-term concern and the same percentage expect a recession to take place in the next 12 months, according to a new survey by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum. The survey, which […]

  • December 4, 2023 December 1, 2023
  • 09:00

Amid concerns of energy independence and rising costs, institutional investors are increasing their investments in U.S. power plants and electricity-generating assets, said Aleksandar Andonov, associate professor of finance at the University of Amsterdam, during a webinar hosted by the International Centre for Pension Management. Andonov shared the results of a study he conducted in partnership […]

  • September 7, 2023 September 7, 2023
  • 12:00

Despite recent uptick in U.S. commercial office real estate landlords defaulting on their loans, the chances of the same trend moving north of the border is low, says Jim Clayton, professor and Timothy R. Price chair in real estate and infrastructure with the Schulich School of Business at York University. Since the onset of the […]

  • July 27, 2023 January 9, 2024
  • 09:00