UN Pension Fund - Analyzing the numbers, October 13, 2019

United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund

Analyzing the numbers vs benchmark

Compiled by M. Rockcliffe

(Click on each image to enlarge)

Passblue: The $67 Billion UN Pension Fund: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, October 10, 2019

"Since 2014, when staff members of the United Nations Pension Fund blew the whistle on serious mismanagement in its secretariat, a change in leadership has been made on both sides — assets and liabilities — of the $67.4 billion fund. Yet the turmoil persists.

Stabilizing the fund’s management and investment decisions has been mandated by General Assembly governance reforms that culminated in a 2018 resolution,A/RES/73/274, amid a continuing dysfunctional culture clouding the fund’s operations...."

Read the full article here:https://www.passblue.com/2019/10/10/the-67-billion-un-pension-fund-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/

UN Pension Fund - UNPR Note - Direct election of retiree representation, 2019

Note by United Nations Participants’ Representatives

to the Pension Board

Direct Election of Retiree Representation on the Board

2019

Summary The  General Assembly in its Resolution 73/274 paragraph 14, noted that the Pension Board would consider issues of participation, rotation and equitable representation on the Board and would review inter alia the composition and size of the Board, including the role of retiree representatives and the modalities for directly electing retiree representatives to the Board, and requested the Board to provide detailed follow-up on all aspects of the resolution including on the implementation of the recommendations of the Office of Internal Oversight Services agreed to by the Board.

UN Pension Fund - UNPR Note - Enhancing processing and reducing forfeitures of benefits, 2019

Note by United Nations Participants’ Representatives
to the Pension Board

Modalities to enhance the processing and reduce forfeiture of benefits

2019

Summary In its resolution 73/274 paragraph 27 the General Assembly reiterated the need to enhance processing of the receipt of payments by some beneficiaries and stressed the need for the Fund to increase efforts to address the delays and proactively resolve open workflows and legacy and other outstanding cases……” [emphasis added] Thousands of legacy and outstanding cases are covered by the General Assembly’s request. The Pension Fund is unable to locate a vast number of former participants, children, and survivors because of the lack of follow-up shortly after separation or death.  The benefits are then forfeited and re-absorbed by the Fund which defeats the purpose of the Fund created to pay benefits.

UN Pension Fund - UNPR Note - Article 6: impact of proposed amendment, 2019

Note by United Nations Participants’ Representatives 

to the Pension Board

Amendment to Rule of Procedure C.1 and

Impact of 2018 proposed amendment to Article 6

2019

Summary The  General Assembly emphasized its existing prerogative on matters pertaining to the Fund in paragraph 5 of resolution 73/274, and in paragraph 21 recalled that it has sole and ultimate authority to approve amendments to the Regulations governing the Fund; Furthermore the GA requested in paragraph 20 that the Board to consider the impact of an amendment of Article 6. We find that the amendment to exclude certain participants of the Fund, would result in a double standard and violation of Article 8 of the United Nations Charter.

UN Pension Fund - UNPR Note: Partial payments to former participants, 2019

Note by United Nations Participants’ Representatives 
to the Pension Board

Partial Payments to former participants waiting for payment over 3 months

2018

Summary

The General Assembly having taken note of the OIOS comprehensive audit of the governance of the Pension Board also  in its resolution 73/274 that the Board requested 1 that “the Fund continue to work towards meeting the target of 15 business days for benefit processing for actionable cases,” and reiterated the need to enhance the processing of the receipt of payments by some beneficiaries”  and stressed the need for implementation of a system to prioritize the resolution of the most urgent and severe cases.

Statistics provided by the Secretariat show that there are at 1000 beneficiaries whose cases are described as “actionable” who could benefit from the implementation of the proposal made in JSPB/65/R.45 and R.45 Add2.

UN Pension Fund - UNPR Note - Limitation of liability for disability benefits, 2019

Note by United Nations Participants’ Representatives

to the Pension Board

Limitation of Liability for Disability benefits

 2019

Summary Paragraph General Assembly RES/73/274 highlighted the importance to ensure unfaltering accountability by the Board. Over the past several months Staff Pension Committees have been faced with disability cases where the official was on a “non-renewable” appointment of five years or less. Since disability benefits are based on a contributory service projected to the participant’s normal retirement age, the benefits derived in these cases is inconsistent with the temporary nature of the appointment and this loophole may often result in undue enrichment of those concerned

UN Pension Fund - UNPR Note - Composition of the Board, 2019

Note by United Nations Participants’ Representatives to the Pension Board Composition of the Board 2019

Background

1)    The current size and composition of the Pension Board was established in 1987 via resolution 42/222 when the General Assembly authorized 33 seats based on a tripartite structure. This resolution took effect on 1 January 1989 as promulgated.

2)    In 2002 the GA in resolution 57/286 requested the Pension Board to review its size and composition “with a view to making such representation more equitable in order to reflect the actual distribution of active participants in the Fund, present and future trends in Fund participation,”

UN Pension Fund - UNPR Note - Article 48: impact of proposed amendments, 2019

Note by United Nations Participants’ Representatives

to the Pension Board

Impact of 2018 proposed amendments to Article 48

2019

Summary Even though the proposal was not unanimous and did not represent a consensus, in 2018 the Board proposed to amend Article 48 in an attempt to reduce the jurisdiction of the United Nations Appeals Tribunal The General Assembly in their resolution 73/274 requested that the Pension Board “provide further analysis on the 2018 proposed amendment to Article 48 of the Regulations and Rules and Pension Adjustment System of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund and to report thereon in the context of the next report.” The present proposal in the Note by the Secretary/CEO does not provide an analysis but merely proposes to re-submit an amendment.  It fails to address the underlying concerns of the General Assembly in making such a far-reaching change.

UN Pension Fund - UNPR Note - Terms of reference for Board members, 2019

Note by UN Participants’ Representatives

to the Pension Board

Terms of Reference for Members of the Pension Board

2019

Summary The General Assembly in is resolution 73/274 paragraph 14(a) noted that the Board would review The terms of reference, and self-evaluation methodology of Board members; The resolution takes note of the OIOS recommendation 1 in its report A/73/341 as follows: “The Board should: (a) establish clear terms of reference for its members outlining, inter alia, the desirable competencies for their appointment and any appropriate restrictions or limitations; and (b) review its current methodology for self-evaluation to make the exercise more effective and useful.”