Save Your Florida Pension

The Florida Retirement System is about to start a new retirement program called the Investment Plan that may be harmful to you because your retirement benefits will no longer be guaranteed. In the wake of $330 million in losses due to Enron investments, we are more concerned than ever about the Investment Plan and the state's management of our retirement money.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Delay the FRS Investment Plan!

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

The Florida State Board of Administration has lost hundreds of millions of my hard-earned retirement funds by investing in Enron even as the stock was going down. Now the SBA has a plan to begin a new defined-contribution program for the Florida retirement system, even before you have answered all the questions about how we lost so much money.

Why should we trust you to properly implement this new retirement plan when we still don't have all the Enron answers? I would like you to tell me why Alliance Capital Management continued to put our money into Enron stock even as news about the company's financial instability was becoming clear. I know you say we may be suing Alliance Capital, but we still dont have all the answers about what happened under your watch. According to newspaper reports, Alliance Capital kept investing in Enron when your staff already knew that the company had serious problems and had warned you about it?

I am asking for you to put my faith back in the Florida State Retirement System by delaying the July 1, 2002, implementation of the new FRS defined contribution plan until the Board of Administration is cleared from potential concerns about mismanagement, conflicts of interest or breach of duty in the Enron case. It will be the best way for you to restore confidence in FRS. I don't want to end up like the Enron employees who lost everything in their retirement accounts.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
April 24, 2002

Background Information

The Florida Retirement System is about to start a new retirement program that will give you the option of transferring some or all of your current retirement account into a new plan called the Investment Plan. In the wake of Enron we are more concerned than ever about the Investment Plan and the state's management of our retirement money.

The New Investment Plan May Be Harmful to You.

In the Investment Plan you bear all the investment risks--so you can make money or lose money. Nothing is guaranteed. Once your money is gone, through investment losses or your own annual spending after you retire, the state will not pay anything additional to support your retirement. This plan may be so risky that your retirement income becomes a gamble, rather than a source of security. Under your current plan you get your full retirement benefits--not matter what.

The Lesson of Enron: Can you Trust the Florida State Board of Administration?

The State Board of Administration lost $330 million of Florida Retirement System money in Enron stock purchases. What is really surprising is that Alliance Capital, an investment manager of our pension plan, bought millions of Enron shares just weeks before the company went bankrupt, when word was already out about Enron's funny bookkeeping. Our plan's loss is nearly three times greater than the loss of the next largest public pension fund. The state attorney general has launched an investigation into this scandal. Given this track record can we trust the SBA to carefully oversee a new manager for this new plan?

Our Plan For the Future.

To protect your hard-earned retirement benefits and prevent further mismanagement of your retirement dollars, Council 79 is taking action. Here is our plan:

Delay the July 1, 2002 start of the new Investment Plan until the State Board of Administration is cleared from any potential concerns about mismanagement or conflicts of interest in the Enron case.

Demand that the State Board of Administration release all information about its Enron investments and its relationship with Alliance Capital in order to shed light on how the fund lost so much money. Our review will look to see if the State Board broke any investment policy rules or participated in any illegal activity.

Change the structure of the Florida State Board of Administration and the Florida State Retirement System to make sure that plan participants have meaningful control over their money. Investment decisions for the system are governed by a three-person board made up of the governor, treasurer and state comptroller. We want representation from plan members and beneficiaries to ensure that our interest in retirement security comes first.

Take Action Now

You can help protect your pension by using this site to fax the trustees of the Florida State Board of Administration to tell them to delay the start of the new investment plan until after we get all the answers on their Enron investments. Together we can make sure that everyone's retirement benefits are protected.