United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund
The United Nations Joint Staff Fund (UNJSPF) is a fund that provides UN pension, death, disability and the other related benefits for staff of the United Nations and the other organizations admitted to membership in the Fund. The UNJSPF is a multiple employer defined benefit plan and governed by the United Nations Joist Staff Pension Board (UNJSPB), the Staff Pension Committee for each member organization, and a secretariat to the UNJSPB and to each such committee.
Services
The UNJSPF was established through UN General Assembly resolution 248 (III) (passed December 1948) which came into effect on the 23 January 1949 making it a permanent retirement scheme. Today it serves 23 member organizations, with 128,262 active participants and approximately 75,000 retirees in nearly 200 countries. Its payments go out in 15 currencies, including dollars, euros, kroner and rupees.[1] The number of benefits awarded during 2016 was 12,322.[2]
Investments
As of 2018, the Fund has a market value of $64 billion, of which nearly $1.5 billion is invested in 24 publicly traded companies.[3] The Fund's largest investment is $210 million in Shell shares.[4]
Governance
The investment of the assets of the UNJSPF is the responsibility of the Secretary-General. The Secretary-General has delegated his authority and responsibility to act on his behalf in all matters involving his fiduciary duties related to the investment of the assets of the UNJSPF to the Representative of the Secretary General for the Investment of the Assets of the Fund (RSG). On 31 August 2017, the value of the assets of the UNJSPF stood at 60.69 billion US dollars.[5] As of 1 October 2017, the UNJSPF is in search of the new RSG to replace the current RSG, Carolyn Boykin of USA who was appointed in September 2014 by the then Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon. [6][7]
| Year | Country | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1950-1963 | United Kingdom | unknown |
| 1964-1969 | Israel | Arthur Liveran |
| 1970-1985 | United Kingdom | Anthony Mango |
| 1986-2000 | USA | Raymond Gieri |
| 2001-2012 | France | Bernard Cochemé |
| 2013-2018 | Mexico | Sergio Arvizu |
| Aug 2018 - Dec 2018 | USA | Paul Dooley (Acting CEO) |
| 2019- | USA | Janice Dunn Lee (Acting CEO) |
In recent years, the Fund has streamlined and modernized its operations and management, having implemented the Integrated Pension Administration System. Various issues relating to the new system have been identified by the United Nations Board of Auditors and the Office of Internal Oversight Services[8].
The Office of the Chief Executive Officer is also looking to improve the monitoring of the end-to-end dashboard that will present the time elapsed at the different stages of benefit processing.
References
- Kambiz Foroohar (October 19, 2017), UN's $61 Billion Pension Fund Gets New Chief After Shortfalls Bloomberg News.
- Archived 2018-03-22 at the Wayback Machine
- Jack Davies (April 25, 2018), UN staff pension fund mired in 'dirty profits' from firms guilty of rights abuses The Guardian.
- Jack Davies (April 25, 2018), UN staff pension fund mired in 'dirty profits' from firms guilty of rights abuses The Guardian.
- Archived 2016-10-05 at the Wayback Machine
- "Secretary-General Appoints Carolyn Boykin of United States as Secretary-General's Representative for United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund Asset Investments - Meetings Coverage and Press Releases". Un.org. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
- "UN's $61 Billion Pension Fund Starts Search for New Management". Bloomberg.com. 29 September 2017. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
- "OIOS audit report".
A/72/383 Seventy-second session Items 136 and 137 of the provisional agenda* Programme budget for the biennium 2016-2017 Proposed programme budget for the biennium 2018-2019 Administrative expenses of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund Report of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board