Call for Nominations for a FPSE College Pension Plan Trustee

This notice is a call for nominations for a Federation of Post Secondary Educators (FPSE) College Pension Plan trustee.

Please email any faculty nominations to Exec for review by noon on Wednesday, February 9, 2024.

The Opportunity

The BC College Pension Fund, as of its most recent annual report, has $6.6 billion in assets*.  The Fund represents roughly 2.8% of BC’s $233 billion public sector pensions, insurance and special purpose funds managed by BC Investment Management Corporation**. The BC College Pension is a defined benefits plan and is arguably the most valuable benefit we receive as employees in the post-secondary sector.

Appointed FPSE College Pension Plan trustees oversee the management of the Fund on behalf of current contributors and retirees; they do so with the aim of ensuring the Fund can keep “the pension promise”, in the long-term, and not be hampered by short-term market gyrations.  These duties include high level reviews of the Fund’s performance and to make recommendations, based on professional advice, regarding asset classes, portfolio allocations, setting dues levels and making inflation adjustments.  Further duties involve oversight of the Fund’s administration.  Trustees do not identify and make specific investment decisions.   

BC’s public sector pension funds are considered to be among the best managed funds in the world.  Therefore, acting as a trustee is a tremendous opportunity to, not only serve the Fund’s over 33,000 contributors and retirees, it also affords a unique chance for individuals it observe, and be a part of, how finance is conducted on a global scale. 

* Source: College Pension Plan Annual Report (2022)

** Source: FISCAL 2022 – BCI | Corporate Annual Report  

Requirements

FPSE Policy Article 5.5.3.3 reads “For appointments commencing in 2014 and thereafter and pursuant to 5.1.2.1 and 5.1.2.2, Presidents’ Council shall ensure there is at least one female and at least one male trustee amongst the FPSE appointee complement.” For this call, only female applicants are eligible for consideration.

Timelines

Section VIII, Article 5 of the FPSE Policy and Procedures Manual outlines the selection process for trustees, to be completed at the upcoming 2024 FPSE AGM. The appointed trustee’s term will commence September 1, 2024. To meet FPSE’s procedural requirements, the nomination process begins now and observes the following timeline:

1. Local nominations must be submitted to FPSE by noon on Wednesday, February 14^th, 2024. The process for receiving nominations is outlined below.
2. Review of nominations and shortlisting by The FPSE Pension Trustee Nominations Sub‑Committee (February)
3. Review of nominations and interviews by the FPSE Pension Advisory Committee (PAC) no later than by March 10, in time for recommendations to be included in the March President’s Council (PC) Meeting Agenda
4. PC Review of Nominees & Recommendation by PC (March 27 & 28)
5. Confirmation of trustee at the AGM (May 13 – 16)  

The initial full-trustee term for the trustee-designate will be for the period September 2023- August 31, 2026. An incumbent trustee may resubmit their names as a future nominee. 

Process

With the exception of an incumbent trustee who wishes to be reconsidered for an additional term, nominations must be:

• Submitted by the president of the nominee’s local
• Accompanied by a note of endorsement from the local president (one page or less)
• Include a statement of candidacy from the nominee (one page or less) and a condensed candidate’s resume (two pages or less)
• Candidates should be prepared to meet with PAC (March 8^th / 9^th) and PC (March 27^th /28^th)

Members are reminded that Article 5.5.3, of the Pension Policy, calls for support of efforts to engage with historically marginalized groups including women, to provide (for their) support and training, and to make specific efforts to achieve their participation.

An Information Summary for prospective nominees and the Pension Articles are available by contacting me.