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TRS Investment strategies Protect Benefit Payments

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Each year, Teachers’ Retirement System distributes approximately $7 billion in benefits to retired members and beneficiaries, or about $575 million every month. Those benefits must be – and always have been – paid each month, no matter what the economic conditions may be.

TRS will continue to have sufficient funds to meet all benefit payments on time and in full for the foreseeable future despite the worldwide economic upheaval created by the spread of the coronavirus.

TRS Commits $3 Billion to Investment Opportunities

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SPRINGFIELD, IL – Teachers’ Retirement System in recent weeks has committed $3 billion to various investment opportunities in order to continue building the fund’s assets for its members’ retirements.

Reports to the TRS Board of Trustees indicated that the System ended calendar year 2019 with a positive 13.4 percent investment return, net of fees.

TRS Hires Voya Financial to Administer New Voluntary Defined Contribution Plan

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SPRINGFIELD, IL – Teachers’ Retirement System Board of Trustees has selected Voya Financial to administer the new TRS Supplemental Savings Plan, a defined contribution retirement vehicle that TRS members can elect to supplement their TRS pensions.

Voya Financial of Windsor, Connecticut, will administer the SSP as a voluntary 457(b)-style plan that allows participating members to contribute a portion of each paycheck to a savings account that is then invested on their behalf.

TRS Sets Preliminary FY21 State Contribution at $5.1 Billion; FY19 Net Investment Return was 5.1%

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SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Teachers’ Retirement System Board of Trustees has given preliminary approval to a $5.14 billion state contribution to the System for fiscal year 2021, a 6.9 percent increase over the current fiscal year’s government contribution of $4.81 billion.

The Board also announced that the TRS investment portfolio generated a positive 5.15 percent return, net of fees, during fiscal year 2019.

TRS Invests $1.15 Billion on Behalf of Illinois Educators

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SPRINGFIELD, IL – Teachers’ Retirement System reported $1.15 billion in strategic allocations to various investment opportunities designed to enhance the retirement trust fund for the System’s 417,000 members.

During the Board of Trustees’ regularly scheduled August meeting, the TRS investment staff reported the following actions:

Jose Gonzalez To Lead TRS Diversity and Emerging Manager Program

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SPRINGFIELD, IL – Veteran TRS investment staff member Jose Gonzalez has been named by Teachers’ Retirement System to be the investment officer leading the System’s $750 million Emerging Manager Program, which continually identifies and nurtures growing money managers.

The Emerging Manager Program is an integral element of the long-standing TRS commitment to expanding opportunity and diversity within its investment portfolio.

Byas, Hirshman and Strand Elected to TRS Board

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SPRINGFIELD – Marsha Byas of Harrisburg, Trustee Andrew Hirshman of Oak Park and Douglas Strand of East Moline have been elected by members of Teachers’ Retirement System to the retirement fund’s Board of Trustees, according to preliminary results of the 2019 Trustee election announced today.

If certified by the TRS Board of Trustees this spring, Ms. Byas, Mr. Strand and Trustee Hirshman will begin their four-year terms on July 15.