News Release

SPRINGFIELD, IL – Teachers’ Retirement System has issued a “request for proposals” seeking an executive search firm to assist the TRS Board of Trustees with the recruitment and hiring of a new executive director for the System.

All proposals responding to the executive search firm RFP must be submitted in writing to TRS by 2 PM C.S.T. on Wednesday, September 23, 2020.

The complete the RFP, including detailed instructions for submitting a proposal, is posted on the System’s website, www.trsil.org.

In the wake of the economy-crippling COVID-19 pandemic, Teachers’ Retirement System assets experienced a $4.9 billion rebound between March and July, climbing to a total of $53.4 billion.            

The worldwide effect of the coronavirus impacted TRS investments between January and the end of fiscal year 2020 (FY2020) on June 30. The preliminary TRS investment return for FY2020 hovered close to the break-even mark at +0.52 percent, net of fees, on June 30. By comparison, on December 31, 2019, the half-way mark in FY2020, the TRS rate of return was +13.41 percent.

SPRINGFIELD, IL – In the wake of the economy-crippling COVID-19 pandemic, Teachers’ Retirement System assets experienced a $3 billion rebound during the March-to-June quarter of fisal year 2020, climbing to a total of $51.6 billion.

Contact: Dave Urbanek, Public Information Officer                                                                                          
Office: 217-814-2177
Cell: 217-891-0140
durbanek@trsil.org

On July 31, the ITRS Board unanimously voted to place Executive Director Richard Ingram on administrative leave due to performance issues covered by his employment contract.

SPRINGFIELD, IL – Teachers’ Retirement System continues to protect member assets as much as possible and has slowly started to recapture funds lost to the economic devastation of the coronavirus pandemic.

The System’s strategic focus is on a prudent, long-term allocation of assets that is mindful of investment risk, protects assets during any economic downturn and is nimbly poised to take advantage of economic growth.

SPRINGFIELD, IL – All TRS member benefits for April were paid in full and on schedule today, despite coronavirus restrictions.

Working from home, TRS staff processed and certified payments for 124,853 retired members and beneficiaries and sent the payment requests to the Illinois Comptroller’s office. The Comptroller’s office then transferred the funds on time to the bank accounts of all eligible members.

The benefits paid for April totaled $586 million.

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.

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.

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.

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: