(November 23 – 15:00 ET) – Just in time for this weekend’s Grey Cup match in Calgary, Manulife Financial has been chosen to administer the pension plan for the Canadian Football League Players’ Association

“Players in the Canadian Football League have a long and rich history in Canadian sports and Manulife is proud to be able to offer them our services,” said Trevor Matthews, executive vice president of Manulife’s Canadian operations.

More than 2,500 active and inactive players will have their pensions administered by Manulife.

“Manulife is well-suited for helping us fulfil our unique needs,” says Stu Laird, president of the Canadian Football League Players’ Association and a 12-year veteran of the CFL. “The average CFL career is very short, usually less than five years, and our players come from all over North America.”

“The dynamics of our industry have resulted in our players having unique pension needs. Complex pension payment schedules, multiple employers within a single industry format, varying definitions of player status that affect their contribution levels and other complexities make our plan especially challenging to manage,” Laird explains.

Among the key features of Manulife’s group pension plan is the wide range of investment choices available through Asset Allocation Funds, which are built to match five different investment styles.

Manulife says the funds’ money managers build pre-packaged investment portfolios that simplify investment choice, proper diversification, and are automatically rebalanced. Players also can access their plan information 24 hours a day via the Internet.
-IE Staff