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The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board is an
independent agency of the United States government Independent agencies of the United States federal government are agencies that exist outside the federal executive departments (those headed by a Cabinet secretary) and the Executive Office of the President. In a narrower sense, the term refers ...
by the Federal Employees Retirement System Act of 1986. It has roughly 270 employees. It was established to administer the Thrift Savings Plan, which is a retirement savings and investment plan for federal employees and members of the uniformed services, including the Ready Reserve. The Thrift Savings Plan is a tax-deferred defined contribution plan similar to a private sector
401(k) In the United States, a 401(k) plan is an employer-sponsored, defined-contribution, personal pension (savings) account, as defined in subsection 401(k) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. Periodical employee contributions come directly out of the ...
plan. The Thrift Savings Plan is one of the three parts of the
Federal Employees Retirement System The Federal Employees' Retirement System (FERS) is the retirement system for employees within the United States civil service. FERS became effective January 1, 1987, to replace the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) and to conform federal ret ...
, and is the largest defined contribution plan in the world. As of August 2021, the board manages $794.7 billion in assets on behalf of 6.4 million participants. The board members and its chairman are nominated by the
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
and confirmed by the
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...
.


Governance

Governance of the agency is carried out by a five-person, part-time board of presidential appointees and by a full-time executive director selected by those appointees. Of the five appointees, three members are appointed solely by the President without other consideration (of whom one shall be nominated as chairman), one member is appointed after considering the recommendation of the Speaker of the House (in consultation with the House Minority Leader) and the fifth member is appointed after considering the recommendation of the Senate Majority Leader (in consultation with the Senate Minority Leader). Each of these persons is required by FERSA to have "substantial experience, training, and expertise in the management of financial investments and pension benefit plans." 5 U.S.C. 8472(d). The board members collectively establish the policies under which the TSP operates and furnish general oversight. The executive director carries out the policies established by the board members and otherwise acts as the full-time chief executive of the agency. The board and the executive director convene monthly in meetings open to the public to review policies, practices, and performance. The chairman also appoints a 15-member Employee Thrift Advisory Council to provide input from the various employee, servicemember, and annuitant groups who have TSP investments, of which one is designated by the chairman as the council head. The 15-member board is made up of the following: *Four members representing the four largest non-Postal employee unions *Two members representing the two largest Postal employee unions, excluding rural letter carrier unions *One member representing the largest Postal employee union representing rural letter carriers *Two members representing the two largest groups representing Postal managerial personnel *One member representing Postal supervisors *One member representing the interests of women in Federal civil service *One member representing the largest group of individuals receiving annuities *One member representing the largest group representing supervisors and managerial personnel, excluding Senior Executive Service *One member representing the Senior Executive Service *One member representing the uniformed services The first chairman of the board was Roger W. Mehle, who was appointed on October 1, 1986. In 1988 he was reappointed and served continuously until January 31, 1994. President Clinton appointed James H. Atkins to replace him, and the board named Mehle the agency's executive director. Clinton named Atkins to another term in 1997, and to a third term via a recess appointment in 2000. He was succeeded by Andrew Saul, who named Gary Amelio executive director in 2002, replacing Mehle. The current executive director is Ravindra Deo, who succeeded Gregory Long in 2017. Ravindra Deo joined the FRTIB in 2015 as the Chief Investment Officer and additionally served as Acting Chief Operating Officer and Acting Executive Director during his tenure.


Investments in unaudited companies in China

The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board has been criticized for a 2017 decision to mirror an index that invests in unaudited Chinese companies as well as companies that are sanctioned by the U.S. Despite scrutiny from the U.S. Senate, Board voted to permit continued investment in an index containing stocks of unaudited companies in the People's Republic of China. In November 2019, U.S. senators
Marco Rubio Marco Antonio Rubio (born May 28, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Florida, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the ...
and
Jeanne Shaheen Cynthia Jeanne Shaheen ( ; née Bowers, born January 28, 1947) is an American retired educator and politician serving as the senior United States senator from New Hampshire since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Shaheen served as the 78 ...
introduced legislation, the Taxpayers and Savers Protection Act, to force the Board to divest from unaudited Chinese companies. In May 2020, a directive from the
United States Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of federal laws governing occupational safety and health, wage and hour standards, unemploy ...
ordered the TSP to halt a plan to invest in Chinese stocks. In 2022, a coalition was formed to push for the removal of emerging-market funds that contain companies linked to the
People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the China, People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five Military branch, service branches: the People's ...
.


See also

* Title 5 of the Code of Federal Regulations * List of members of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board


References


External links

* {{authority control Retirement Thrift Investment Board Retirement in the United States Public pension funds in the United States Government agencies established in 1986 Government-owned companies of the United States 1986 establishments in the United States