In just a few weeks, Salesforce will allow employees in select U.S. locations to return to work in the office, according to a statement the company posted on its website. Starting in May, Salesforce’s vaccinated U.S. employees in California, specifically in San Francisco, Palo Alto and Irvine, can voluntarily join groups of 100 or fewer […]
Penad Pension Services Ltd. is acquiring Ontario-based SeclonLogic Inc., a defined benefit pension plan and group benefits administration software solutions company. “I am confident that this transaction will leverage the products and services of the combined firm to the benefit of our clients and partners,” said Matthew Price, president of the Penad Group of Companies, in […]
Inflation break-evens at multi-year highs and higher nominal yields are putting some upward pressure on real yields in Canada, according to a new report by FTSE Russell. The firm found first-quarter 2021 performance returns showed a sell-off in government bonds, led by longer U.K., U.S. and Canadian government bonds, as the reflation trade gained momentum. […]
Hub International Ltd. is acquiring Calgary-based Wessex Financial Inc. Wessex Financial is a family and business benefits provider that specializes in association benefit planning, individual member services, critical awareness and financial literacy programs. Read: Hub acquiring Edmonton benefits, retirement consultancy This is the latest of a string of Canadian benefits providers and consulting firms that Hub International […]
The Empire Life Insurance Co. is adding opioid management solution to its pay-direct drug benefit plans. Alongside the coronavirus pandemic, another public-health issue has worsened during these tumultuous times. Between July and September 2020 there were 1,705 apparent opioid toxicity deaths, according to the Government of Canada. This stat represents the highest quarterly count since […]
The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is launching a investment group that will focus on renewables, conventional energy and new technology and service solutions. The sustainable energy group combines the CPPIB’s energy and resources group with the power and renewables group for a total of $18 billion in assets, according to a press release. The group’s […]
The Alberta Teachers’ Retirement Fund Board is withdrawing its membership from the Principles of Responsible Investing Secretariat as it transfers responsibility for asset management to the Alberta Investment Management Corp. In a press release, the ATRF said its withdrawal from the United Nations-supported investor network would allow it to respect “the spirit of its responsible […]
Canada’s defined benefit pension plans’ funded positions continue to improve in 2021, ending the first quarter at their highest levels in more than 20 years, according to Mercer Canada’s pension health index. It found solvency ratios increased from 114 per cent at the end of 2020 to 124 per cent at the end of March 2021, with the median solvency ratio […]
Year two of the coronavirus pandemic is already revealing fault lines between how the youngest and oldest generations of U.S. employees are coping with the effects of the shift to remote working on their well-being, found MetLife Inc.’s annual U.S. employee benefit trends survey. Although employees across all generations feel their holistic well-being — which […]
High-cost drugs remain the primary cost driver for Canadian public and private drug plans, said the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board’s newly released 2019 annual report. Patty Hajdu, the federal government’s minister of health, tabled the report, which found the sales of patented drugs grew 3.5 per cent to over $17 billion in 2019. Additionally, […]