WRS News Online - January 2020 Edition

The State of Wisconsin Investment Board has announced preliminary 2019 investment returns for the Core Trust Fund and the Variable Trust Fund. How will this affect your Wisconsin Retirement System account?

Webinar: How Rates and Adjustments Determined
How are WRS effective rates and annuity adjustments determined, and how do they affect your benefits? Take in our webinar and find out. Sessions are scheduled through March and offered at convenient day and evening hours. Find this and all ETF webinars on our Events webpage.

Happy New Year! As the 2020s dawn, your Wisconsin Retirement System continues to be strong and well-positioned to meet the State’s retirement commitments well into the future. Thank you for all you do to make the WRS the success that it is.

This past year the WRS Trust Funds earned extremely strong preliminary gross returns; however, the true value that SWIB provides is measured over long time horizons and not simply by the rise and fall of the market in a single year. Over the long term, SWIB’s investment strategy -- along with the WRS’s unique design -- has maintained the plan’s fully funded status and kept the WRS financially stable.

Know Your Benefits: Is There a "Magic Number"?
No, there is no magic number. For employees in all Wisconsin Retirement system employment category(ies) other than Protective, a member with 30 years of service can get a formula retirement benefit with no age reduction factor applied at age 57. Learn More.

The Wisconsin Legislature is expected to conclude the 2019-2020 session this spring. As of WRS News Online deadlines, here are the latest bills affecting the benefit programs administered by the Department of Employee Trust Funds.

Trustees Win Allocators’ Choice Award
The SWIB Board of Trustees received Institutional Investor’s Allocators’ Choice Award for Investment Committee/Board of the Year. The Board has demonstrated a continued commitment to a strong governance structure, active internal management and a sophisticated investment strategy, building out technology, and hiring the best talent to manage the WRS trust funds.

WDC Program Monthly Fees Increase January 1
Effective January 1, 2020, monthly administrative fees paid by Wisconsin Deferred Compensation Program participants increased by an average of 6.5%. The WDC is self- supporting; fees pay for expenses such as account record keeping and auditing services.

WDC Contribution Limits Increased in 2020
The IRS has set a 2020 contribution limit of $19,500 OR 100% of your includible compensation and increased the age 50+ catch-up contribution and the “special” catch-up contribution were also increased. Find out how you can enhance your retirement savings with these new provisions.

State of Wisconsin Investment Board Executive Director/Chief Investment Officer David Villa has been named one of Trusted Insight’s 2019 Top 30 Public Pension Chief Investment Officers. He has also been honored as a finalist for Chief Investment Officer magazine’s Industry Innovation Awards in the category of risk management.

Well Wisconsin is Back and Better for 2020! What's new in 2020 for the Well Wisconsin Program? A new portal, for one thing! Watch a new video and learn about the many cool new features and programs to keep you on track with your health and wellness goals.

Every January ETF publishes a notice of individuals age 70 or older who have abandoned WRS accounts.

SWIB Names New PMFA Director
SWIB is excited to announce that Anne-Marie Fink is the agency’s new Private Markets and Funds Alpha managing director. As such, Fink is responsible for overseeing SWIB’s private equity, real estate, hedge funds, externally managed accounts, private debt, and venture capital portfolios.

Find out when the next scheduled meetings are set for the Group Insurance Board, the WRS retirement boards (ETF Board, Teachers Retirement Board, and Wisconsin Retirement Board), the Deferred Compensation Board and Investment Committee, and the SWIB Board of Trustees.