By Summer Intern Marco Lima

A top priority at the Pension Boards since I joined the team as a Finance Intern has been to remain competitive in the industry. I am fortunate to have been able to contribute toward this goal that is helping to orient the Pension Boards toward a successful future.

I have been tasked with two primary objectives: first, to help create the marketing agenda for our newer investment products; and second, to integrate the firm’s investment accounting to a more efficient Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) program.

I am grateful to have the opportunity to work with the team of summer interns on two of the investment products offered at the Pension Boards: tTarget Annuitization Date (TAD) Funds and the Employee Retirement Contribution Account, a tax-sheltered annuity or TSA. We performed a thorough data analysis of each fund to create a foundation for our marketing strategy proposal. Analyzing the TAD Funds and the TSA data helped us articulate the strengths and weaknesses of each product, guiding our team to focus on our website and communications content. Our collaborative efforts manifested the creation of informational guides for clients, investment projection calculators, and ideas on how restructure the web content to facilitate client accessibility.

I am also happy to directly contribute to the Pension Boards’ automation efforts in helping migrate their financial operations into Oracle’s ERP program, NetSuite. I worked with the entire investment accounting team to formulate a direct translation of the current chart of accounts and general ledger structure to a more contemporary and flexible system in NetSuite. This translation was not a simple endeavor; it required constant discussion about the nuances of each account. However, it was an invaluable experience that taught me the importance of transparency between a firm and its stakeholders. Whether it was learning the about funds, accounting, or translating Excel models, I am excited to see my contributions take a tangible form and to help the Pension Boards provide enhanced services to their members.

It has been nothing less than a joy to collaborate with Pension Boards professionals, and I hope to see the firm continue to grow and prosper in the future.