Changes to the Helios2 Contract and DFS Guaranteed Investment Fund lineup

Intermediary Network Sales Support and Expertise August 21, 2020

In the best interest of our Contract Owners, Desjardins Financial Security Life Assurance Company (DFS) periodically reviews its investment and insurance products in order to adapt them to the realities of our constantly evolving markets. Accordingly, DFS has decided to make changes to the Helios2 Contract and the DFS Guaranteed Investment Funds lineup.

Changes to the Helios2 Contract:

  1. Revised fees
  2. Two new Fee Options added

Changes to the GIF lineup:

  1. Nine Funds added
  2. Six Funds closed to additional Deposits and switches
  3. One Fund closed

Changes to the Helios2 Contract

1. Revised fees

We have revised the fees applicable to the Helios2 Contract in order to be more competitive in the industry. These changes affect both the Management Fees and the additional Helios2 – 75/100 i, Helios2 – 100/100 i and Helios2 – 75/100 GLWB Guarantee fees. These changes will take effect on November 30, 2020.

Through the combined effect of these changes, most Contract Owners will see their Contract fees decrease while some will see no changes and others will experience a slight increase. For more details, please refer to the Questions and Answers document or the Advance Notice of Change.

2. Two new Fee Options added (Option D and Option E)

2. Two new Fee Options added (Option D and Option E) DFS will offer 2 new Fee Options with the Helios2 Contract: Option D and Option E (no fees – commission chargeback to the representative). Under these options, no surrender charges will apply if the Contract Owner decides to surrender all or part of the Units of any Fund attributed to the Contract.

However, the distributor and representative may have to reimburse all or part of their sales commission to DFS if the surrender takes place within 3 years (Option D) or 5 years (Option E) of the date the Units were originally attributed to the Contract. For more details, please refer to Addendum 1 of the Questions and Answers document.

Changes to the GIF lineup

1. Funds added

Nine new Funds will be available in the Helios2 and Helios Contracts starting on November 30, 2020.

  • DFS GIF – Moderate – Desjardins SocieTerra
  • DFS GIF – 100% Equity – Desjardins SocieTerra
  • DFS GIF – Fixed Income – Desjardins Wise ETF
  • DFS GIF – Conservative – Desjardins Wise ETF
  • DFS GIF – Balanced – Desjardins Wise ETF
  • DFS GIF – Growth – Desjardins Wise ETF
  • DFS GIF – Maximum Growth – Desjardins Wise ETF
  • DFS GIF – 100% Equity – Desjardins Wise ETF
  • DFS GIF – Canadian Equity – Desjardins
  • DFS GIF – Canadian Bond
  • DFS GIF – Canadian Small Cap Equity – NEI

Note that some funds will also be added to discontinued products. Please see the Advance Notice of Change and the Questions and Answers document for more details.

2. Six funds closed to additional Deposits and switches

Effective November 27, 2020, 6 Funds will no longer be available for additional Deposits and switches.

Fund nameHelios2HeliosMillennia III – New Era (Series 3)Millennia III – ClassicMillennia III – New Era (Series 1 and First Edition)IGP
DFS GIF – Diversified Income – Franklin Quotentialxxx   
DFS GIF – Balanced Income – Franklin Quotentialxxx   
DFS GIF – Balanced Growth – Franklin Quotentialxxx   
DFS GIF – Growth – Franklin Quotentialx xx   
DFS GIF – Canadian Equity – Franklin Bissettx xxxx x
DFS GIF – Small Cap – Franklin Bissettx xxx  

For more details, please refer to section 5 of the Questions and Answers document.

3. One fund closed

The following Fund will be closed in the specified Contracts on November 27, 2020.

Fund nameHelios2Helios ContractMillennia III – New Era Contract (Series 3)Millennia III – Classic ContractMillennia III – New Era Contract (Series 1 and First Edition)
DFS GIF – Income – Fiera Capitalxxxxx

Non-registered Contracts containing Units of DFS GIF – Income – Fiera Capital Fund being closed will be subject to a taxable disposition. For more details, please refer to section 5 of the Questions and Answers document.

Information for advisors

You can review the Advance Notices of Change to learn more about these changes as well as the change of name and investment objective for certain Funds. Please read the Questions and Answers document, which contains key information on the topic.

Client communications

All Contract Owners will be sent an Advance Notice of Change, which will be mailed out starting August 31, 2020:

ContractAdvance Notice Item #Expected mailing date
Helios220112F/EBetween September 7 and 26, 2020
Helios20111F/E
Millennia III – New Era (Series 3)20110F/EStarting August 31, 2020
Millennia III – First Edition and Millennia III - New Era (Series 1)20109F/E
Millennia III – Classic20108F/E
Imperial Growth Plan20107F/E

Please note that the Fund Facts for the new Funds being added in November 2020 will not be included in the Advance Notices of Change.

ContractFund Facts Item #
Helios220112F01/E01
Helios20111F01/E01
Millennia III – New Era (Series 3)20110F01/E01
Millennia III – First Edition and Millennia III – New Era (Series 1)20109F01/E01
Millennia III – Classic20108F01/E01
Imperial Growth Plan20107F01/E01

A PDF version of these Advance Notices and Fund Facts (at the end of August) can be found in the Helios2 Contract Sales Material section.


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