The Pension Boards' Investment Program exists to provide the highest level of investment performance within the guidelines of the organization.
The Annuity Plan for the United Church of Christ, a pension plan administered by the Pension Boards, is a defined contribution plan and is the primary retirement income vehicle for most plan members. In designing the plan and its investment structure, the Pension Boards focused primarily on long-term considerations to assist members in achieving an adequate level of income at retirement.
The pension plan administered by the Pension Boards for accumulating plan members includes eleven investment options: a Stable Value Fund, a Bond Fund, a Sustainable Balanced Fund, an Equity Fund, six Target Annuitization Date (TAD) Funds, and a Global Sustainability Index Fund. The TAD Funds are “funds of funds.” The TAD Funds invest in the Stable Value, Bond and Equity Funds. These Funds have different return/risk characteristics so that plan members may create an investment program to match their objectives and their levels of risk tolerance. The allocation of contributions and balances between each of the Funds is determined by each member.
Broad diversification in the Funds is achieved through the allocation of each Fund's assets into a number of market segments appropriate to each Fund. Within each Fund the Investment Committee approves eligible investments and sets asset allocation guidelines to be followed by the Chief Investment Officer. The Funds are available to all members that have deposits on account with the Pension Boards.
Members have two annuity choices to convert their accumulated balances at retirement—the Participating Annuity and the Basic Annuity. Members who had annuitized prior to April 1, 2006 and who did not choose to convert to one of these annuities remain in the Equity Benefit Annuity and/or the Balanced Benefit Annuity. Annuity reserves are invested in the Pension Boards’ Equity, Bond, or Sustainable Balanced Fund.