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Optimum Group was born in 1969 with the creation of the actuarial consulting firm Gilles Blondeau & Company. That firm would eventually become Optimum Consultants & Actuaries Inc., a subsidiary offering actuarial and advisory services and spearheading the Optimum Group.

With over 46 years of experience, Optimum Consultants & Actuaries Inc. is pleased to offer customized solutions for retirement plans, group insurance, occupational health and safety, remuneration and benefits communication. Our mission is to guide decision makers and collaborate to implement customized solutions to strategic and risk management issues related to employee benefits in a rapidly evolving world.

Our team offers consulting services in the following fields:

Retirement

• Day-to-day administration
• Plan design
• Drafting of plan texts and internal bylaws
• Personalized training programs for plan administrators and committee members
• Implementation of sound governance practices
• Preparation of periodic actuarial valuations and projection of the financial position of plans
• Development of funding policies
• Advisory services for benefit negotiations
• Calculation of accounting expenses
• Analysis and implementation of retirement savings plans

Asset management for pension funds

• Drafting and analysis of investment policies
• Selection of fund managers and trustees
• Monitoring and analysis of fund managers’ performance
• Asset management training for committees
• Immunization of liabilities (Asset/Liability Modelling)

Opti-Plan Solution

• Pooling of assets of various pension plans in our Master Trust
• Advantageous manager fees, comparable to conditions generally reserved for large pension funds
• Selection of the top quality fund managers
• Rigorous monitoring of selected managers
• Replacement of any manager that fails to satisfy expectations
• Annual investment performance report provided
• Access to Life Cycle Funds or À la carte options
• Efficient and simple administration via insurer platform (promoter and participants)

Group insurance

• Analysis and negotiation of renewal conditions
• Advisory services for the design of plans, including implementation of personalized plans
• Advisory services for benefit negotiations
  • Analysis of financial structure and implementation of financial agreements
  • Fiscal optimization of cost sharing

• Monitoring and analysis of experience
• Verification of brochure and contract compliance
• Actuarial assessment and calculation of accounting expenses for post-retirement benefit plans

Occupational health and safety

• Financial analysis of occupational health and safety files
• Changes in experience and impact on costs and assessments
• Estimate of financial issues – future costs and budgets
• Analysis of setting of premium rates
  • Personalized mode on an individual basis and a mutual basis
  • Selection of a mutual group
  • Calculation of future savings
  • Opinion on management of the mutual group
  • Financial monitoring of the mutual group and reporting to members
  • Manager support
  • Retrospective mode – protection of assessment adjustments and recommendation on optimal selection of insurance
  • Audit – analysis of methods and processes
    • Analysis of financial activities
    • Payroll declaration
    • Validation of benefits
    • Calculation of indemnities
    • Analysis of management activities
    • Analysis of prevention activities

Communications

• Drafting of explanatory brochures
• Production of global compensation statements
• Drafting of documents for annual meetings and presentations to members
• Preparation of presentations on benefits programs

We have developed expertise in the private sector as well as the public and para-public sectors. Our clients are local, national and international.

We have a staff of 25 employees of which 20 are professionals, including 8 Actuaries and 4 Associates of the Society of Actuaries. The entire Optimum Group has over 500 employees situated mainly in Canada, with smaller affiliated companies in France, US and the Caribbean.