The IPF/IHF 2005 Annual Report
Programs Capitalize on Partnerships and Innovation
Watch your mailbox this month for the Annual Report of the International Pension Fund (IPF) and International Health Fund (IHF). The purpose of the Annual Report is to provide audited fi nancial information about each IU benefi t program. In addition, the 2005 Report highlights three programs that demonstrate the ongoing commitment of IPF and IHF to improving participant services – the Electronic Reciprocal Transfer System (ERTS), the BAC Sav- Rx Prescription Drug Program, and the Trowel Trades S&P 500 Index Fund.
A tangible example of the Funds’ push to utilize new technologies to meet members’ needs is the Electronic Reciprocal Transfer System, a userfriendly reciprocal transfer program that’s helping thousands of traveling members receive credit for hours worked and contributions earned – promptly, effi ciently, and securely.
Through the use of secure Internet connections at participating local fund offi ces and Local Unions, encrypted benefi t data is sent to traveling members’ home funds. The web-based system reduces human error, eliminates paperwork, and speeds up the transfer process signifi cantly. Registered members also like the online option of modifying or canceling their designations.
Sav-Rx At the recommendation of the BAC Health Care Task Force, in 2004, BAC introduced the BAC Sav-Rx Prescription Drug Program. IHF and several Local funds signed on to the Program to help participating members and their health plans rein in soaring prescription drug costs. Since April 2004, for example, while average prescription drug costs increased by 18.1% in the U.S., the average monthly prescription costs for BAC members and their families participating in Sav-Rx actually decreased by 10.9%. These savings now add up to roughly $9 million for BAC participants.
At present, more than 29,000 participants in 12 BAC-sponsored Local plans have signed on to the BAC Sav-Rx Program. In addition to savings, Sav-Rx offers patient care services like refi ll reminders and important information about the drugs they are taking. A clinical team of doctors, pharmacists, and registered nurses directs these services, and Sav-Rx itself.
Coalition-building is also integral to BAC’s ability to infl uence corporate decision-making and expand investment opportunities for BAC funds. Through the Trowel Trades S&P 500 Index Fund, IPF and Local pension and annuity funds that invest in the Index Fund are building a strong fi nancial network that pays dividends beyond the Index Fund’s competitive rate of return, multiple investment options, and lower management and administrative fees. The Fund also helps ensure that members’ investments are working for them, not against them.
Working in conjunction with the Index Fund, the BAC Proxy Voting Service votes a fund’s proxies in the interest of the fund and its participants. It also puts forward shareholder proposals on behalf of participating BAC pension funds to prevent future Enron-type scandals and protect the interests of BAC participants. In addition, the Proxy Voting Service educates fi rms about the benefi ts to their shareholders of using union labor and contractors.
Recent BAC proposals at corporate shareholder meetings have focused on limiting executive compensation and severance packages, eliminating “poison pill” provisions that reward non-performance and reduce the voting strength of shareholders, reforming corporate board election practices, and limiting job offshoring and outsourcing. By partnering with service providers and seeking out like-minded institutions, IPF and IHF are creating economies of scale and capitalizing on the experience of industry leaders to provide new and enhanced services for Fund participants.
|