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Fund: Wilshire will just advise on DC plan, not administer it
Although the defined contribution plan is now included in the scope of work of Wilshire Consulting Associates, it will just provide pure advice and will not administer the program, according to NMI Retirement Fund administrator Richard Villagomez yesterday.
Villagomez said that ASC Trust Corp. will remain the third-party administrator of the defined contribution program.
“ASC is still the third-party administrator. Wilshire’s role will be advising the Fund on DC plan matters, not administering it,” Villagomez said.
He pointed out that having a consultant is a typical setup with most DC plans as it is merely prudent to have one, especially as the size of the DC plan grows.
The DC plan was created by Public Law 15-13 to provide an individual account retirement system for persons employed by the CNMI government. It is a multi-employer pension plan and is the single retirement program for all new employees whose employment started on or after January 2007.
Villagomez said that because there will be no changes in the DC program’s administration, indirect costs associated with handling the program will still be charged to recover costs incurred by the Retirement Fund.
The DC plan, along with the Workers Compensation Commission and Group Health Life Insurance Program, is among the non-defined benefit matters that the Fund still takes an active part in administering. These programs are under the auspices of the Executive Branch but parts of their administration is performed by the pension agency.
