Administration Highlights

For clients who use our plan administration services, the cost of our human resources to provide those services are allocated according to an annual evaluation of effort expended. Information systems and other general office and business costs are allocated based on a periodic historical analysis of transaction volumes and number of members in each plan.

The Vestcor administration team is responsible for the day-to-day operations of 11 pension plans as well as 4 employee benefit programs. We provide service to approximately 68,000 active and 38,700 retired members. Our members include employees from the provincial public service sector, the education sector, provincial health authorities, crown corporations, and other quasi-public sector organizations.

The administration team is divided into four areas: Member Services, Plan Operations and Pension Policy, Communications, and Board and Committee Support Services. Highlights for 2021 from each of these areas are as follows:

MEMBER SERVICES

In 2021, the Member Services team had over 38,000 contacts with plans members through telephone calls, emails and visits to our office, an increase of 17.06% as compared to 2020, where a 12.12% increase had been experienced.

Member Services Satisfaction Survey Results*

To ensure that we continued to meet the needs of our clients, Vestcor administered client satisfaction surveys, as initially launched in 2017. The surveys were sent to members who received a specific service from Vestcor during the year relating to pension estimates, purchases of service, terminations, or retirements.

Very Satisfied - 45.93% Satisfied - 41.18% Neutral - 7.29% Dissatisfied - 3.27% Very Dissatisfied - 2.32%

* Results above do not sum to 100% due to rounding.

Member Services Employee Education Session Satisfaction Results

In addition to the services noted, Vestcor provided member education sessions. In 2021, despite COVID restrictions for much of the year, 522 plan members attended these sessions. The member sessions provided them the opportunity to learn more about the provisions of their pension and employee benefit plans. Those who attended the sessions were given a survey to complete. Of those who responded, they noted being very satisfied with the information they received, as outlined in the following table.

Very Satisfied - 50.00% Satisfied - 43.33% Neutral - 6.67%

PLAN OPERATIONS AND PENSION POLICY

During 2021, the team processed over 6,600 pension related applications which included a significant increase in retirement applications (12% higher than the previous two years) and termination applications (28% higher than 2020 and 25% higher than 2019). Throughout the year, the Operations team continued to focus on enhancing processes utilizing Vestcor’s new modernized administration system. A large backlog of benefit calculations was completed while at the same time a concentrated effort was exerted to successfully bring service delivery standards back to near target levels.

Service

Purchase of Service Requests Pension Estimates Retirements Terminations Marriage Breakdowns

Target

60 days 60 days 60 days 30 days 42 days

2021 Number Processed

701 1,984 2,088 1,674 166

2021 Achieved 96.4% 97.1% 99.3% 98.4% 97.0%

2020 Achieved 42.8% 63.7% 86.6% 87.9% 86.5%

MEMBER AND CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS

As the pandemic continued, the importance of communicating effectively and intentionally was more evident than ever. With that in mind, the Communications team developed a new communications plan based on our Vestcor Strategic Plan. Its overarching goal highlights the importance of delivering consistent purpose driven communication which guided the focus of the team. Initial deliverables of the new plan included the launch of the corporate client survey and an active role in the creation of the corporate purpose, in conjunction with the Senior Management Committee and Board of Directors.

Through the year, the Communications team facilitated several events. In addition to the NBPSPP’s annual meeting, the NBTPP held their inaugural Annual Information Meeting in a virtual format, enabling access to a number of active members, retirees, and other stakeholders. In addition, Vestcor’s Client Forum continued to be offered virtually through a series of webcasts tailored to the needs and requests of clients. Topics included: investment updates, investment performance measurement and GIPS®, responsible investment, and portfolio benchmarking.

The team continued to support pension and employee benefits clients through various means, including the development of tailored clientspecific communication plans, continued modernization of newsletters and forms, further integration of videos, and more.

BOARD SUPPORT SERVICES

Vestcor has continued to successfully adapt its board support services delivery model to enable hybrid (e.g., limited in-person and / or virtual) service offerings during the pandemic. In this regard, the team was able to seamlessly continue to provide robust operational support to our various client boards and committees.

In 2021, the Board Support Services team coordinated multiple educational opportunities via videoconference and conducted research resulting in the development of governance material to assist these groups in achieving their governance and fiduciary objectives and to deliver on their respective strategic initiatives. These activities included providing best practices to client boards related to topics such as board governance, effectiveness and risk management; support in regard to the drafting of internal board policies; coordinating the delivery of various externally facilitated sessions such as board triennial assessments and the establishment of risk management frameworks, and providing oversight of the pension plans’ regulatory and legal requirements.