Home Lauren Bailey

PepsiCo Canada’s winning DEI strategy linking inclusion to employee well-being

PepsiCo Canada’s 2024 Workplace Benefits Awards win demonstrates how weaving diversity, equity and inclusion into strategic business practices can foster employee mental health and wellness. The food and beverage company’s inclusive end-to-end business transformation strategy made it this year’s winner in the DEI Program category. “It’s so fantastic that all of our hard work has been […]

  • October 24, 2024 October 23, 2024
  • 09:00

2024 Risk Management Conference: Long-term returns of sustainable private market assets outweighing short-term risks

Sustainable investing needs to take a much more nuanced approach today than it did in the past, according to Edward Vaughan Dixon, head of sustainability and private markets at Aviva Investors, during the Canadian Investment Review’s 2024 Risk Management Conference. Environmental, social and governance strategies should result in a holistic view of the risks behind a […]

  • October 21, 2024 October 21, 2024
  • 07:56

2024 Risk Management Conference: How institutional investors can find risk-adjusted returns with generic assets

Exposure to generic asset pricing factors can help deliver risk-adjusted returns, according to Ryan Taliaferro, senior vice-president and director of investment strategies at Acadian Asset Management, speaking during the Canadian Investment Review’s 2024 Risk Management Conference. These products tend to be available off the shelf in commercially available risk models and are typically marketed by exchange-traded […]

  • October 21, 2024 October 21, 2024
  • 07:54

2024 Risk Management Conference: TTC Pension Plan using due diligence, storytelling to communicate risk analyses to board

When communicating risk management posturing to executive boards, it’s important for pension plan sponsors to tell a cohesive and fulsome story, said Danny Ip, director of investment risk and analytics for the Toronto Transit Commission Pension Plan, during the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2024 Risk Management Conference. The TTC plan, which has $8.7 billion in assets under management, has […]

  • October 21, 2024 October 21, 2024
  • 07:52

Q&A with Manulife Canada’s Michelle DeBeyer

The insurance company’s vice-president and head of human resources discusses embracing artificial intelligence and taking time to sit back, relax and connect with family. Q: What top challenges do you face in your role? A: A core part of my role is ensuring Manulife Canada is constantly evolving and continually looking for different ways to […]

  • October 11, 2024 October 9, 2024
  • 08:53

How national dental-care, pharmacare programs will impact unionized employees

The Canada Dental Care Plan will help make dental services more accessible for unionized employees who don’t currently have a dental program within their contract, says Sandeep Kakan, director of pension governance at Unifor. Kakan, who until recently was the union’s director of pension and benefits, says the new program has established a standard from which […]

  • October 2, 2024 October 2, 2024
  • 09:00

Ontario reviewing impact of preferred pharmacy networks on plan members’ costs, accessibility

Ontario’s Ministry of Health is consulting on the role of preferred pharmacy networks in the province’s employer-sponsored drug insurance sector to determine how these agreements impact plan members’ costs, choice, accessibility and access to medicine and quality of care. In its draft consultation paper, the ministry said a common concern among consumers is when PPNs are closed and […]

  • September 6, 2024 September 5, 2024
  • 09:00

2024 Global Investment Conference: Canadian real estate pressures increasing demand for rental market investments

If Canadians aren’t able to access single-family housing, then by necessity they have to move to rentals, said Aaron Pittman, senior vice-president and head of Canadian institutional investment at Equiton, during the Canadian Investment Review‘s 2024 Global Investment Conference in April. Surging population growth, stalled housing completions and a shrinking middle class are creating challenges […]

  • June 10, 2024 June 6, 2024
  • 07:56

Claims for obesity drugs increased 42% in 2023, 92% since 2020: report

The use of obesity medications among Canadian employer-sponsored benefits plan members has grown substantially, with claims increasing 42 per cent in 2023 and roughly 92 per cent since 2020, according to a new report by Manulife Financial Corp. The report, based on aggregate claims data, found more women are using obesity drugs than men (79 […]

  • June 7, 2024 June 6, 2024
  • 09:00

Coverage for high-cost, specialty drugs missing from rollout of feds’ pharmacare plan: experts

While the concept behind the federal government’s universal pharmacare plan is well intentioned, the program would make a larger impact for employers by focusing on high-cost and specialty drugs, says Pam Martin, vice-president and senior consultant at Baynes & White Inc. In theory, the way that the government is rolling out the program in small […]

  • May 29, 2024 May 28, 2024
  • 09:00