UN Appeals Tribunal rules that CEO's ban on elected UN representatives is illegal, 27 October 2017

Message from the UN Participant Representatives to the Pension Board, 27 October 2017

"UN APPEALS TRIBUNAL RULES ELECTED UN REPRESENTATIVES CANNOT BE EXCLUDED FROM PENSION FUND BOARD

We are pleased to inform you that the UN Appeals Tribunal today ruled illegal a decision by pension fund CEO Sergio Arvizu to ban two elected staff representatives, Michelle Rockcliffe and Ibrahima Faye, from the fund's board.

The tribunal found there was no legal provision to back the CEO's actions.

For memory, the two representatives were banned despite being among the six successful candidates in the UN's staff pension committee elections in April, at which 18,000 staff voted.

The motivation behind the CEO's actions are impossible to know. But Michelle and Ibrahima's inside knowledge of the fund and its leadership could well have been embarrassing at the board following the mishandling of the new IT system during which newly retiring staff went up to 6 months without being paid, and a more recent incident during which incorrect data was given to the fund's actuaries.

The UNAT judgement vindicates the 4,500 staff who signed a petition protesting the ban and the staff unions, who through CCISUA staff federation, launched the legal appeal.

At the same time it shines a light on the legal and moral vacuum within the pension fund's leadership. To this end, the staff unions have made clear to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that Arvizu should not be extended when his contract comes up for renewal at the end of this year. A new leadership is needed.

Here is a picture of the six UN participant representatives. Now we can sit together next time the board meets, and represent and defend the interests of 80,000 UN staff and its many retirees.

Thank you all for your support!"

UN Pension Fund: New Representative of the Secretary-General for Investments, 19 October 2017

THE FIRST WAVE OF NEEDED CHANGE AND HOPE IT'S GOOD FOR OUR FUND (Recall that the World Bank -- he's head of the global pension advisory programme at the World Bank -- according to the Fund CEO's public statement, joined large organizations that changed from defined benefit to defined contribution plan. But let's take a step back, welcome the change and give him a chance.)

UN SPOKESPERSON'S OFFICE

NEW RSG FOR THE UN PENSION FUND

"Secretary-General appoints Sudhir Rajkumar of India
as his Representative for United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund Asset Investments

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced today the appointment of Sudhir Rajkumar of India as Representative of the Secretary-General for the investment of the assets of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund. He will succeed Carol Boykin of the United States to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her commitment and dedicated service to the Organization.

Mr. Rajkumar brings to the position more than twenty-eight years of broad-based global investment experience, covering formulation and implementation of investment policies, and hands-on experience with global bond markets, private equity and project finance transactions, and corporate finance and privatization advisory engagements.

He is currently head of the global pension advisory programme at the World Bank Treasury, a role in which he has provided advisory services to the National Pension Fund of the Republic of Korea, Ministry of Finance of Brunei Darussalam, South Africa’s Government Employees Pension Fund, KWAP - Malaysia's second largest pension fund and the Nazarbayev University Endowment in Kazakhstan – in addition to other public investment institutions globally. He also currently serves as a member on the External Advisory Committee on Investments of the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Investment Committee of the United Nations Office for Project Services, and as Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of the International Centre for Pension Management (ICPM).

Mr. Rajkumar began his career at the World Bank in Eastern Africa Operations as a Young Professional in 1988. Since then, he has worked in various regions and capacities with the World Bank and International Finance Corporation, including as Principal Investment Officer. Prior to this, he served in managerial positions with the Shriram Group in New Delhi and Kota, India.

Mr. Rajkumar holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago, a Master of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the University of Delhi. He is co-editor and an author of the book Governance and Investment of Public Pension Assets: Practitioners’ Perspectives published by the World Bank.

New York, 19 October 2017"