2006 1st Quarter

Steve Harding of IFS spoke at the annual meeting of Public Funds sponsored by Opal in Phoenix in January. Steve spoke on the results of the recent SEC examination into consultant conflicts of interest and what public funds are doing about them.(See Fund Fire article above.)

Andy Irving of IFS conducted workshops on March 17 on "Problems and Issues in Private Sector Pensions" as part of a program on The Pension Crisis sponsored by the Rutgers University Labor Education Center. The conference attracted almost 200 representatives of labor, management and government. The presentation summarized and placed in historical context the factors that have created stress on private sector pension plans and reviewed some of the legislative and regulatory responses being discussed.

IFS was represented at the "Made In America" conference of Taft-Hartley funds in Las Vegas on February 14, 2006.

Consultants say the recent Securities and Exchange Commission probe into consulting practices in the pension industry has affected the hiring process they go through for pension funds. At the Opal Financial Group sponsored Public Funds Summit here, four consultants touched on issues regarding pay to play and consultant evaluation, among other topics. The SEC probe that spanned two years led pension plans to take another look at the types of activities their consultants were engaging in.

IFS recently completed for the System an evaluation of the adequacy of compliance by its private asset managers with applicable investment guidelines and assisted in implementing prior recommendations regarding disclosure by the System's investment consultant.

IFS recently completed the development of a questionnaire for candidates seeking to act as the Board's investment consultant, regarding actual or potential conflicts of interest.

The State Board of Administration of Florida hired IFS to formulate a questionnaire for candidates seeking to act as the Board's investment consultant, regarding actual or potential conflicts of interest.

The Funds hired IFS as their ongoing investment consultant. IFS had previously completed an Operational Review and made recommendations regarding possible changes to each Fund's asset allocation, investment policy statement and investment managers.

The Funds hired IFS as their ongoing investment consultant. IFS is also the consultant to two other national funds-one a pension fund, the other a health and welfare fund-jointly sponsored by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union and contributing employers.

The Fund has hired IFS to assist its Board in implementing its new Policy Statement and Protocols regarding securities class action litigation.