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.”

Read more ...

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.

Read more ...

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.

Read more ...

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.

Read more ...

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).

Read more ...

Emerging Markets: Thinking Strategically on Your Investment Behalf

Recently, Lan Cai, Deputy Chief Investment Officer for the Pension Boards-United Church of Christ (PBUCC), was a panelist at Pensions & Investments’ inaugural Emerging Markets conference in New York City. The featured discussion highlighted investment opportunities and strategies in growth markets such as China. As a follow-up to that conversation, the Pension Boards sat with Lan to highlight PBUCC’s long-term investing approach to emerging markets on behalf of its members’ portfolios in the Annuity Plan.

Read more ...