Capital Accumulation Plans

We advise employers on how to comply with their legal responsibilities and best practices vis-à-vis the sponsorship and administration of defined contribution pension plans and all other types of capital accumulation plans (group RRSPs, DPSPs, group TFSAs and supplemental defined contribution plans), including compliance with legislation and industry best practice, notably CAPSA’s Capital Accumulation Plan (CAP) Guidelines and DC Guidelines.

Among other issues, we advise sponsors of defined contribution arrangements with respect to potential legal issues arising in the selection of investment options and communicating investment and other information to members.

We recently advised a large professional association in conjunction with its development and implementation of a retirement program for its 40,000 members, which included a novel annuity purchase feature.

As Canadian defined contribution plans mature, “decumulation” has become a greater concern for many plan sponsors. We have extensive expertise in the legal aspects of this emerging topic. We have assisted clients to establish and operate innovative, in-house retiree decumulation vehicles, including customized retirement income fund (RIF) programs, with a view to assisting retirees and former employees benefit from high quality investment options and “wholesale” investment fees.