Penny Thomas
Wow! What a fantastic turnout for the 2017 Missouri LAGERS Annual Meeting! Thank you to the over 300 in attendance. Celebrating 50 years of providing a secure retirement to our local government employees in Missouri is a joy in itself, but having the opportunity to spread the good news of Missouri LAGERS with them at the annual meeting takes the cake!
The annual meeting is the perfect time to have your voice heard in the direction your pension system will take in the future. One way to do this is through the Board of Trustees elections. This year’s meeting not only allowed voices to be heard through the elections, but through networking with the LAGERS staff and your other local government colleagues as well. With over 300 in attendance, voices rang clear through the meeting rooms and hallways of Tan-Tar-A at the beautiful Lake of the Ozarks.
The two day event kicked off with the Legislative Committee meeting. The meeting promoted the theme of “Defense! Defense! Defense!” The perception of public pensions throughout the state capitol right now is, at best, challenging. Along with our members and supporters, we hope to amplify our message within Missouri’s congress: LAGERS helps build strong communities by creating a secure retirement for Missourians. We value public service employees and their contributions to our communities. We are strong. We are 94.7% prefunded, and our 5-year investment return as of June 30th is 9.27%.
If you would like for a LAGERS representative to speak with your subdivision and/or community about how LAGERS is “Getting It Right,” please contact us.
Immediately following the Legislative Committee meeting were opening remarks from Arby Todd, Board of Trustees Chairperson and Bob Wilson, Executive Secretary. The opening remarks was followed by the State of the System, where Wilson discussed LAGERS’ financial strength, leadership, member focus, challenges, and advocating secure pension benefits.
An investment update presented by Brian Collett, Chief Investment Officer covered the funding ratio, how LAGERS did short term, long term, and notable activity for the year, concluded the main opening session.
Sessions: This year’s breakout sessions included topics such as a LAGERS 101 – Review of the Basics, Excelling with Monthly Reporting, Life Changing Events and how they affect LAGERS benefits, and how to educate others about LAGERS benefits.
Board Elections: This year there were two board vacancies, one employer trustee and one member trustee. Employer trustees are representatives of LAGERS’ subdivision’s boards and are not active LAGERS members. On the other hand, member trustees are those who are representatives of the membership and are actively working for one of LAGERS’ subdivisions. The vacancies were Robert Ashcroft, Employer Trustee from Platte County and Arby Todd, Member Trustee from the City of Lee’s Summit. Both Robert and Arby were nominated and were re-elected to their respective positions for 4-year terms.
Next year’s annual meeting will be held October 25-26 at the Sheraton Chalet, Westport, St. Louis, MO. We look forward to seeing you there. Until then, if you need anything from us, please contact the LAGERS office and continue following us online for the latest information on LAGERS and retirement security in Missouri.
