Highlights of the September 23, 2011 Board of Trustees Meeting

• IMRF receives high marks in benchmarking study
• Board certifies three candidates for Trustee election
• 2011-2013 strategic objectives and key strategies update
• Board approves initial steps of Modernization Strategy
• Next meeting

IMRF receives high marks in benchmarking study

IMRF ranked highly in an annual pension administration benchmarking study. Jan Hartford, of CEM Benchmarking, told the Trustees that IMRF earned a total service score of 82 out of 100, which ranked eighth out of the 46 pension funds in our peer group. IMRF exceeded the average fund score in 14 out of the 15 measurements that make up the total service score.

In addition:

• IMRF had total pension administration costs of $76 per active member and annuitant, compared to the peer group average of $109.
• IMRF total pension administration costs increased 2.4% annually between 2007 and 2010, less than the peer group average of 3.6%.
• IMRF transaction volumes were 54% higher than the peer group average.
• IMRF had higher productivity as measured by transactions per full-time employee, compared to the peer group average.
• IMRF had lower than average costs despite operating in the fourth-highest cost environment compared to the peer group.

The Board said IMRF staff should be commended for the study results.

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Board certifies three candidates for Trustee election.

The Board certified three candidates for the upcoming Executive Trustee election. The candidates are:

• Evelyn M. Gleason, Executive Director of the Midlothian Park District;
• David C. Miller, Assistant General Manager and Deputy Treasurer of the North Shore Sanitary District; and
• Mark F. Nannini, Director of Finance and Treasurer of the City of Crystal Lake.
  

Ballots will be mailed on October 20 and must be returned to IMRF by December 8. The new Executive Trustee will serve a five-year term of office. The term of current Executive Trustee Martha H. Rademacher expires on December 31.

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2011-2013 strategic objectives and key strategies update

IMRF staff has made significant progress implementing Action Plans in support of the objectives of the Strategic Plan. Dan Duquette told the Trustees that each Action Plan has a sponsor and a single point of accountability. Scorecard meetings are held monthly for management to assess progress.

IMRF has made particularly notable progress to date in the areas of legislative outreach, development of a long-term IT strategy, partnerships with reciprocal systems, customer satisfaction surveying, and implementation of Tier 2 provisions.

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Board approves initial steps of Modernization Strategy

The IMRF Board of Trustees unanimously approved the first steps of an Information Technology Modernization Plan that includes the eventual replacement of SPECTRUM, IMRF's mainframe benefit payment system.

A Key Strategy of the IMRF Strategic Plan is to develop a plan to replace or upgrade SPECTRUM to address needs for improved correspondence, customer relationship management, and reporting and analysis. Deputy Executive Director Dan Duquette and Chief Information Services Officer Bob Woollen explained to the Trustees that SPECTRUM has served IMRF well for more than 20 years, but it has a number of shortcomings and risks. They include:

• SPECTRUM is built upon an obsolete and declining software platform.
• SPECTRUM lacks the flexibility to adapt to the demands of new legislation.
• SPECTRUM lacks tools for business analysis, modern correspondence and content management, and member and employer relationship management.

The Modernization Plan would position IMRF to continue to provide a high level of service at a reasonable cost into the future. Taking action now to replace or upgrade SPECTRUM is a proactive way for IMRF to avoid being forced into action later due to a crisis, such as the potential loss of SPECTRUM software support.

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Next Board meeting

The next monthly Board meeting will be held at on Friday, October 28, 2011.

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