The Section of Former Officials of the ILO
Update on the Pension Fund – November 2017
Category : Archives
The meeting of the Joint Committee of the Fund took place on 24-28 July 2017. This meeting was eagerly awaited given the turmoil experienced by the Pension Fund over the past two years. Some of the problems were related to the introduction of a new computer system that initially resulted in delays of up to 6 months in the calculation of pensions for new retirees. The delays have been reduced and it now takes between 4 and 6 weeks for the first payment to be made if all the required documents are received by the Fund. It should be noted that the payment of pensions for current beneficiaries never experienced any delays. One of the biggest problems, however, concerns the calculation of survivor pensions as the new computer system does not have the possibility to include the spouse’s name on the Certificate of Entitlement – an omission which certainly does not help survivors to be paid quickly. A task force has now been set up to ensure that survivors can be paid within 4 to 6 weeks, but delays can unfortunately often occur because documents, for example regarding traditional marriages, are missing. A innovation introduced in the computer system is “Member self-service”, which is now fully operational for retirees. If you have difficulty entering the website check that you have a recent version of Windows Explorer or use Google Chrome.
Other problems with the Fund have been related to investment management which, according to the rules in force, is expected to produce returns of 3.5% (see article by Cherry Thompson-Senior in Issue 59-60 of Message). The Investment Officer of the Fund is directly under the authority of the Secretary General of the United Nations. The incumbent’s contract ends at the end of 2017 and the process to recruit a replacement started in the summer. It is very important that the person recruited is of the highest calibre to manage the large sums involved and it is essential for the long-term sustainability of the Fund that the benchmark of 3.5% is achieved.
Lastly, criticisms have been expressed in recent years about the governance of the Pension Fund. The management of the Fund’s CEO was called into question by some staff associations creating a somewhat tense climate and causing many worries for pensioners and their associations. Thus the mandate of the current CEO has been renewed for only three years, instead of the usual five (see the Joint Committee Conclusions published in this issue).