Over the past week, our consultants have provided insight into mental health, fiduciary managers, and default investment funds.
Health
Canada, Employee Benefits Advisor, EAP top mental health program offered by employers
“Buck Consultants recently released a global study, Promoting Mental Well-being: Addressing Worker Stress and Psychosocial Risks. The study reveals the five fastest growing programs promoting mental well-being offered by U.S. employers are EAPs, physical activity programs, work-life balance support programs, healthy lifestyle programs and leadership training focused on the individual.”
U.S., The Health Care Blog, What’s Missing in the Debate Over Employer Wellness Programs
“Most of the time, the session’s verbal jousting focused on a far narrower issue: whether companies saw any financial return on investment (ROI) on the dollars they plow into wellness programs. As one member of the audience, Tami Simon, JD, managing director of the knowledge resource center at Buck Consultants, a Xerox company, pointed out afterward, the discussion neglected any other impact that wellness programs might have. These factors could include employees’ “presenteeism;” their sense of engagement, morale, or loyalty to their employer; or even on the company’s image as a desirable place to work and its ability to attract and retain employees. Any one of these, Simon noted, could reasonably be incorporated into any assessment of ROI.”
Wealth
U.K., Engaged Investor, Time for change: why schemes are switching fiduciary manager
Will Parry, investment consultant at Xerox-owned Buck Consultants, says: “People are able to see strengths and weaknesses of different offerings. If they went in the first wave four to five years ago they are now looking to do a review process.”
U.K., Engaged Investor, Switch it up: how to change a disappointing fiduciary manager
Will Parry, investment consultant at Xerox-owned Buck Consultants, says that when conducting reviews of delegated investment relationships, he has been able to cut up to 10 basis points on fees ‘“without too much trouble”. However, the sheer difficulty of switching providers should not be underestimated, warns Parry. “It’s a pretty big step to take,” he says.
U.K., Pension Insight, The evolving nature of the default fund
James Smith, senior investment consultant at Buck Consultants, says: “For a number of our clients we have carried out a demographic review to determine the profile of the membership. We feed that data into a modeller to establish what the pot size is likely to be at retirement.”
Upcoming Webinar
All Stressed Out! Emerging Trends in Workplace Mental Wellbeing
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
12:30 – 1:30 p.m. ET | 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. PT | 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. GMT
Stress is an unavoidable part of most people’s lives. But it also takes a toll on employers: higher healthcare costs, increased absences, greater employee turnover and decreased worker productivity are all attributable to stress. And evidence suggests the mental wellbeing of workers continues to deteriorate around the world.
Our 2015 study, conducted globally in four countries, examined mental wellbeing in the workplace and found that employers are not only becoming more aware of these trends but are also increasingly concerned about the overall wellbeing of their employees.
What is your organization doing to address these issues and how do you compare with your peers?
Join us for an interactive discussion to learn about:
| • | Current global workplace trends in mental wellbeing |
| • | Ways companies are addressing worker stress and psychosocial risks |
| • | How you can advance mental wellbeing in your organization |
Register here.