The Pension Boards - PBUCC

2019 Annual Report Magazine

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Financial Markets: What Is Happening? (March 6, 2020)

Investors have continued to sell global equities and other risk assets like high yield bonds and corporate debt, as continued economic impact from the COVID-19 virus becomes apparent. The U.S. equity market has continued to be very volatile, with big swings this week. The clear implication is that global growth will come down, as concern about China and neighboring countries has now migrated to our shores.

Bond investors continued to be positively rewarded during this time period, benefitting from central bank polices to lower interest rates around the world. The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) once again lowered rates after doing so three times in 2019, responding to changes in market rates and attempting to provide support to the economy.

Financial Markets: What Is Happening?

Investors have again become more pessimistic and global equities have sold off over worries about the continued spread of the SARS-Co V-2 (Wuhan Coronavirus) beyond its epicenter in the central province of Hubei. Infections have now been reported in 28 countries, and news from Iran, Italy, and Spain provoked fear about what could happen in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today warned about potential “disruption to everyday life.”

UCC and PBUCC Enter Into Fundraising Partnership to Support Clergy Financial Wellbeing

In response to the urgent problem of clergy educational debt, the Pension Boards-United Church of Christ (Pension Boards) and the National Setting of the United Church of Christ (UCC) have entered into partnership to raise $3 million across the wider church in support of clergy financial wellness. This collaborative fundraising effort, the first of its kind collaboration, reflects the ministries’ shared commitment to holistic wellbeing of those who serve the church.

PBUCC Supports UCC Disaster Relief Efforts

A series of powerful earthquakes, the most damaging on January 7 and the most recent on January 11, have killed one, injured several, and caused significant destruction and disruptions in power and other services on the island of Puerto Rico.

New Legislation Resolves Three Important Issues for Ministries and their Employees

Congress has passed new legislation that repeals certain taxes and reduces costs for ministries and their employees. Thanks to the bipartisan support of legislators in both houses of Congress, the resources of America’s religious communities can remain focused on their mission work rather than on these onerous taxes and costs. The Church Alliance (church-alliance.org), a coalition representing 38 denominational benefits organizations, urged legislators to fix three issues that negatively impacted the ministries and church workers they serve.

The Benefits and Risks of Investing in Target Date Funds (TDF)

In this Q&A article, the Pension Boards outlines the benefits and risks of investing in Target Date Funds and shares why you, the member, should take advantage of the Pension Boards’ Target Annuitization Date (TAD) Funds. The TAD Funds automatically reallocate your investments in line with your anticipated annuitization date, and when you annuitize, they are converted to a defined benefit annuity – an option not provided through other plans in the financial services marketplace.

The Pension Boards will be offering a new High Deductible Health Plan, called Plan HSA, effective January 1, 2020

Plan HSA is designed to be used with a Health Savings Account, or HSA.

Basic and Participating Annuity Payments Unchanged for 2020

At its November 2019 meetings, the Board of Trustees of the Pension Boards voted to keep the monthly payments from the Basic Annuity and the Participating Annuity unchanged effective January 1, 2020.

PBUCC Receives $1 Million Lilly Grant to Expand MFVI

November 22, 2019 – The Pension Boards-United Church of Christ (PBUCC) has been selected to receive a $1,000,000 grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to expand the scope and reach of the Ministers’ Financial Vitality Initiative (MFVI), a financial wellness program for authorized ministers in the United Church of Christ (UCC).

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