UN Pension Fund: We must ensure we're solving the right problems. 2 May 2020

The online pension briefing organized by the UN Participant Representatives to the  Pension Board on Wednesday, 29 April 2020 was extremely informative and useful. I wish to thank them for organizing the event, and commend them for their dedication, commitment and persistence in working for the interests of Fund participants (active staff, whom they represent) and advocating for retirees in the matter of the continued health of our fund.

I wish also to raise issues concerning the briefing, and a recent Passblue article, for which it is imperative that independent facts be established in order to ensure we're solving the right problems.

Informal summary (below)

I have prepared an informal summary below this note,  structured according to the presentations on i) developments at the Fund; ii) benefits; iii) investments; and iv) questions and answers; v) cost savings; vi) and closing remarks). 

I wish to stress that this summary is unofficial and offered solely for information of interested fund members, who may also wish to visit the following link to replay the recorded live event. 

https://bit.ly/PFInfoSession0420

UN Pension Fund information session on investments, April 29, 2020

Ian Richards

Yesterday at 9:06 AM

Pension Fund information session on the situation regarding investments

As your representatives on the Pension Board, we would like to welcome you to our next pension information session, which will take place online on Wednesday 29 April from 3 to 4.30 pm Central European Time (9 to 10.30 am New York).

Our guest, in charge of managing the Fund’s investments, is Acting Representative of the Secretary-General Pedro Guazo. He will make a presentation on the situation regarding the Fund’s investments and will answer your questions.

We decided to hold this session following our recent broadcast (https://bit.ly/3bvkwSC) detailing developments at the Fund and your feedback to us.

The agenda is as follows:

• Briefing on recent developments at the Fund (participant representatives – 5 minutes)
• Presentation on the situation regarding the Fund’s investments (Pedro Guazo – 15 minutes)
• Questions and answers.

Please use this Teams Live link (https://bit.ly/PFInfoSession0420) to join us on the day. You may also send questions in advance to the following link (https://app.sli.do/event/h56q3aki/live/questions) so that we can ensure that your concerns are addressed.

Kind regards,

Ibrahima Faye, Mary Abu Rakabeh, Bernadette Nyiratunga, Aissatou Ndiaye, Ian Richards, Michelle Rockcliffe

UN Pension Fund: Message from your representatives on the status of the Pension Fund, 17 April 2020

MESSAGE FROM YOUR REPRESENTATIVES

ON THE STATUS OF THE PENSION FUND/

MESSAGE DE VOS REPRESENTANTS SUR LE STATUT DU FONDS DE PENSION

From: BROADCAST United Nations <broadcast-unitednations@un.org>
Sent: Friday, April 17, 2020 2:51:52 PM
To: Broadcast - ALL UN Secretariat
Subject: Message from your representatives on the status of the Pension Fund // Message de vos représentants sur le statut du Foncds de pension

Dear Colleagues,

As your representatives on the UN Pension Board, many of you have been in touch with us to ask about the latest developments at the Fund.

These include concerns raised by us with regards to how the Fund’s Office of Investment Management was being administered in light of financial risk, the subsequent replacement of the Fund’s head of investments (known as the Representative of the Secretary-General, or RSG) and the financial impact of recent market movements.

We know that for many of you, the Fund represents your only source of social security and retirement income. 

That is why we are following matters closely and have been in contact with the new, Acting RSG to urge the safe and conservative management of the Fund’s assets, and request greater sustainability and transparency - two important values in these financially volatile and difficult times. We will be reporting back to you in due course with a clearer picture.

UN Pension Fund: Changes in the head of investments in the midst of Covid-19. Where's the internal audit report? 16 April 2020

The Secretary-General’s letter of 14 April to Fund members raises more questions than it answers. What really caused the sudden departure of Sudhir Rajkumar,  the Secretary-General’s Representative for Investments (RSG)  and what’s being done to address any underlying issues to ensure our Fund’s continued health during Covid-19 and beyond?

Fund members were surprised to learn, on 29 March, that Rajkumar had abruptly resigned. One moment, on Friday, 27 March, he was posting an investment report on the Fund’s website, the next moment it was removed, and  two days later, he resigned.

The Secretary-General’s renewal of Rajkumar’s two-year contract last December, in the thick of a year of internal tumult in the Office of Investment Management (OIM), sent a signal of confidence in his RSG, wittingly or not. So much so, that even close observers of the Fund didn’t see Rajkumar’s abrupt departure coming.

Rajkumar’s surprise exit came about two weeks after, on 12 March, a UN Participant Representative to the Pension Board sent an open letter to the SG (not made public), reiterating concerns and allegations stated in an earlier letter to the SG by the UN participant representatives, on 21 October 2019. An internal investigation and audit were reportedly conducted following receipt of the letter.

Letter from the UN Secretary-General to UNJSPF participants, retirees and beneficiaries, 14 April 2020

Letter from the UN Secretary-General to UNJSPF participants, retirees and beneficiaries

Excerpt:

"It is undeniable that the present volatile state of the financial markets, triggered by the global Coronavirus pandemic, has affected the value of the Fund ‘s assets. After a positive performance in 2019, we entered this year with an 18.68 percent annual return helped by rising equity markets which saw the portfolio reach a level of $72 billion. With the market downturn in the first quarter of 2020, the changes in the value of our portfolio are consistent with the trend observed in the markets more generally, with a decrease of approximately 10 percent. It is important to recognize, however, that changes in the valuation of the underlying assets of the Fund do not mean that the Fund incurred actual losses where such assets have not been sold.

Given that the COVID-19 pandemic is still unfolding, we expect the volatility in the markets to persist in the weeks to come. Yet we do not foresee any disruption for beneficiaries as the Fund ‘s liquidity is strong.  I can assure you that all pensions will continue to be paid in full."

Read full letter here:

https://www.unjspf.org/secretary-general-letter-to-unjspf-participants/

UN Office of the Spokesperson: Note to Correspondents on the Resignation of Sudhir Rajkumar

OFFICE OF THE SPOKESPERSON OF THE UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL

"29 March 2020

Note to Correspondents on the Resignation of Sudhir Rajkumar

Mr. Sudhir Rajkumar has resigned from his role as the Representative of the Secretary-General for the investment of the assets of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, effective at the close of business on Tuesday, 31 March 2020. The Secretary-General has accepted the resignation and thanks Mr. Rajkumar for his service in managing the assets of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund. The Secretary-General wishes Mr. Rajkumar the very best in his future endeavours.

The Director of the Finance Division in the Office of Programme Planning, Finance and Budget of the Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, Mr. Pedro Guazo, will be appointed as the Acting Representative of the Secretary-General while the Secretary-General launches a recruitment process to find a successor to Mr. Rajkumar."

https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/note-correspondents/2020-03-29/note-correspondents-the-resignation-of-sudhir-rajkumar

UN Pension Fund: in the Covid-19 crisis, the Secretary-General must step in now to resolve internal issues on investments, 29 March 2020

For the past year, internal turmoil has roiled the UN Pension Fund’s Office of Investment Management (OIM) led by Sudhir Rajkumar, the Representative of the Secretary-General for Investments (RSG).

This article presents available facts, in the hope that bringing them into the open will spur necessary attention and steps to restore internal calm to OIM to enable both staff and management to better weather the current external storm caused by the Covid-19 crisis.

Now more than ever, the Secretary-General, the Fund’s ultimate fiduciary, must step in to assess the facts and take steps to resolve the situation.  No leader, including the RSG, can do an effective job when there are festering and unresolved differences between staff and management.

What’s at stake is the financial health and sustainability of our Fund. Indeed, there is nothing about Fund governance and oversight that instills confidence.   If the Secretary-General has acted to address this raging controversy in the past year, such action hasn’t been evident.