Quebec City-based Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. has been a granted a licence by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) to administer the federal pooled registered pension plan (PRPP).
Industrial Alliance (TSX:IAG) joins Great-West Life Assurance Co. as a fellow PRPP licence recipient. Great-West announced last week that it was granted a licence from OSFI.
The PRPP is a new pension plan offered to Canadian companies and self-employed workers who operate under federal jurisdiction, as well as companies and self-employed workers in Yukon, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. Industrial Alliance will be able to offer the PRPP as soon as the final administrative formalities are processed by government authorities.
Industrial Alliance’s says its federal PRPP stands out from other group pension plans for its simplicity and low cost; employers have minimal responsibility for plan implementation and administration, and for its carefully selected investment options to help savers with their decisions.
“The PRPP is a very beneficial solution for eligible Canadians who didn’t have access to a group pension plan. We want to offer them tools to help them prepare better for retirement. It made perfect sense to enhance our offer by adding this new plan,” says Renée Laflamme, vice president, group savings and retirement.
The implementation of the federal PRPP comes as a result of the Pooled Registered Pension Plans Act, adopted by the government in June 2012.