pensions - AAFI-AFICS, Geneva - UNOG

Fund’s new publication “Pension Info” dealing with specific topics will be published and circulated to specificgroups of clients. Booklets and posters will be prepared that explain in simple and comprehensible terms thecomplex aspects of certain Pension Fund regulations and rules. A special brochure on restoration and validation ofpension benefits is already available; a brochure offering guidance to surviving spouses is under preparation.FAFICS will be able to obtain special purpose information on the Pension Fund’s Internet site covering suchmatters as administrative issues, health and life insurance questions. Moreover, the Pension Fund web site hadbeen updated; participants and beneficiaries can suggest improvements to facilitate on-site consultation. The goalis to enable: (a) participants to calculate on line their own pension entitlement estimates; and (b) for beneficiaries tosecure information, such as the quarterly statement reporting their individual monthly benefits. The Pension Fundwill also increase its use of e-mail to exchange factual information, however continuing to use the traditional, signedcorrespondence for more complex matters.FAFICS expressed appreciation for the positive manner in which relations with retirees and other beneficiaries willbe handled in the future. Problems affecting Pension Fund beneficiaries often arose for different reasons;sometimes because beneficiaries were living in countries experiencing social or economic difficulties; other timesbecause individual pensioners were seeking assistance and advice on pension matters. FAFICS felt that it wasimportant in such cases that beneficiaries receive a prompt acknowledgement of their communication as well as aclear and proper response to their concerns.FAFICS stressed that while the Internet was available to many beneficiaries, it must be noted that some elderlybeneficiaries were not familiar with computer technologies, or they may not have access to the Internet.FAFICS recommended that the Pension Fund improve its telephone answering services. Beneficiaries trying tocontact the Pension Fund offices by telephone often had urgent reasons for doing so; for example, in the case ofthe death of a beneficiary. Beneficiaries also may call from different time zones or their calls might be made outsidethe normal official working hours. It was important for the Pension Fund to install a voice mail system that enabledthe beneficiary to record the purpose of their call, their name and their telephone number. FAFICS was informedthat the Pension Fund planned to install an automatic telephone answering system that could respond to specificquestions, such as the amount of the pension adjustment that might be made on 1 April of any year.Whole office reviewAt its meeting in 2001, the Standing Committee had requested the CEO/Secretary to carry out a whole officereview of the staffing structure and staffing levels of both the Pension Fund Secretariat and the InvestmentManagement Service in the light of the new structure proposed. The whole office review was presented to thePension Board in Rome at its July 2002 session and as a result, the CEO/Secretary requested the reclassificationof several existing posts as well as several new posts in the Pension Fund Secretariat. While some Pension Boardmembers and FAFICS supported the CEO/Secretary’s efforts and plans, they were endorsed only in principle bythe Pension Board as a whole. However, despite strong objections from Participants Representatives, severalother Board Members and FAFICS, the Pension Board decided to take no action at this session on the request forreclassifications and new posts. The proposals will therefore be presented to the Standing Committee in 2003,inthe context of the Pension Fund budget proposals for 2004-2005.Office space for the pension fund:The CEO/Secretary reported that a lease for office space in a building near the UN in New York had been signed toaccommodate the immediate space requirements related to information technology re-engineering projects. ThePension Board was also informed that a search for permanent premises for the Pension Fund, including theInvestment Management Service had been initiated, in conformity with a recommendation made by the StandingCommittee. A suitable property had been identified in the vicinity of the UN but negotiations for the building failedbecause the owners decided to sell individual floors of office space under a condominium offering plan.[to be continued in the next issue of the Bulletin]PENSIONS27