Desjardins Financial Security announced today it is revamping its organizational structure with four new divisions that it says will allow it to focus more on business sectors than on distribution networks.

The four new business sectors target four distinct clienteles, Desjardins says. They are: Individual Insurance; Savings and Segregated Funds; Group and Business Insurance; and AssurFinance for Institutions, AssurDirect and Desjardins Relations.

Each sector will have full control over all activities affecting its objectives, regardless if they occur before or after the sale, including product design and customer service, even if they affect product distribution directly.

The Levis, Que.-based company said its senior management and the shared services department remain unchanged.

Meanwhile, Desjardins Trust Inc. says it is panning to merge and revise some of the investment objectives of several of its mutual funds. “The proposed changes are intended to simplify the Desjardins Family of Funds … help to achieve cost efficiencies by creating larger funds on which to allocate operating expenses,” the company said.

“The proposed changes include fund mergers between funds with similar investment objectives, revisions to the investment objectives of two funds, which will result in an increase in the management fee of one of the funds, changes to the mix of underlying funds of two funds and a change in the portfolio sub-advisory arrangements for one fund.”

Some of the changes require unitholder and/or regulatory approvals. Unitholders will receive meeting and proxy materials in October 2003 for meetings to be held in November 2003. Subject to all necessary approvals the changes will be implemented in late 2003 or early 2004.

Desjardins Trust is Québec’s largest mutual fund management company, managing more than $5 billion in retail mutual funds as at May 31, 2002.