Washington, DC – The District of Columbia Retirement Board (DCRB) received the Public Pension Coordinating Council’s Recognition Award for Funding 2008 in recognition of meeting professional standards for plan funding as set forth in the Public Pension Standards.

A retirement system must meet six criteria in order to receive the Recognition Award for Funding. They are as follows:

• Comprehensive Benefit Program. The system must provide a comprehensive benefit program including service retirement benefits, in-service death benefits, disability benefits, vesting, and provisions for granting a cost-of-living adjustment.
• Funding Adequacy. The system must have at least a 100% funded ratio or the actual contribution rates are at a level equal to or greater than 100% of the Annual Required Contributions.
• Actuarial Valuation. An actuarial valuation must be completed at least every two years using generally recognized and accepted actuarial principles and practices. Audit. The system must obtain an unqualified opinion from an independent audit conducted in accordance with government auditing standards generally accepted in the United States.
• Investments. The system must follow written investment policies and written fiduciary standards and the system must obtain an annual investment performance evaluation from an outside investment review entity.
• Communications. Members must be provided a handbook or summary plan description, regular updates to the documents, and an annual benefit statement. Meetings of the governing board of the system are conducted at least quarterly with adequate public notice.

This award was presented by the Public Pension Coordinating Council, which is a confederation of the National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA), the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS), and the National Council of Teacher Retirement (NCTR).

DCRB invests the assets that support pensions paid for District service under the District of Columbia Police Officers’ and Firefighters’ Retirement Plan and the District of Columbia Teachers’ Retirement Plan (the “Plans”). DCRB serves as Plan Administrator and pays retirement benefits to approximately 13,500 retirees and survivors.