International Agricultural Research Centers Offshore Retirement Plan Participant Guide
Contents Introduction... 1 AIARC... 1 Contacts... 2 Membership... 2 Contributions... 3 Benefits... 3 Retirement benefits... 3 Withdrawals... 4 Security... 5 Managing your account... 5 Making an Investment Decision... 6 Switches: fund to fund transfers... 7 Switches: rebalancing... 7 Transfers... 8 Charges... 8 Tax treatment... 9 Important information... 9 Amendment or termination... 9
Introduction AIARC This guide provides an overview of the features and benefits that are available to you as a participant in the IARC Offshore Retirement Plan (the Plan). In addition to this guide, it is important that you read the IARC Offshore Retirement Plan Investment Guide to understand the investment options available to you. AIARC is committed to helping Center employees save for retirement by providing a plan to which your Center will make contributions on your behalf, in addition to your normal salary. You will also be able to contribute your own money (voluntary contributions) to the Plan. You will have your own account under the Plan and will decide where your money is invested. All money paid into your account will belong to you. In the event of your death, the cash value of your account will be payable to your designated beneficiaries. The Association of International Agricultural Research Centers (AIARC) is a non profit membership corporation located in Alexandria, Virginia, USA. It was established by the Agricultural Research Centers affiliated with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) at the end of 1992 to handle personnel benefits (primarily payroll, retirement and insurance) for the Centers. It is governed by a Board of Directors who is selected by the member Centers of the Association. AIARC manages benefits for twenty one Centers and over 2,000 Plan participants. IARC Offshore Retirement Plan The Plan was established in 1996 to help Centers employees save for retirement. The Plan is created under a trust, which is a separate legal framework segregating the assets of the Plan from those of the Centers and AIARC. Therefore, your retirement savings are not dependent on the continued operations of AIARC or your Center. The Plan structure The Plan is constituted under a Guernsey trust and governed by the Trust Deed and Rules. A trust is a legal relationship whereby property is held by one party, the trustee, for the benefit of another, in this case the plan participants. The trustee for this plan is the International Agricultural Research Centers Plan Trustee Limited; a Guernsey based Trustee Company. The trust company is controlled by a Board of Directors elected by the Research Centers. Copies of the Trust Deed and Rules are available for inspection from the Plan Administrator (AIARC) or the Trustee at Ogier House, St. Julian s Avenue, St. Peter Port, Guernsey GY1 1WA. IARC Plan Participant Guide 2014 Page 1 of 9
Plan Regulation Guernsey has a robust set of legal and regulatory controls governing its trust and corporate services providing a high level of protection for participant assets. All Guernsey based trustees are required to be licensed and are regulated by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC); the trustee has to meet all regulatory requirements as a licensed Guernsey trustee. The trustee has a fiduciary responsibility for administering trust assets as well as for the governance of the Plan. However, in line with best practices, the trustee has delegated the following responsibilities: Plan Administrator Platform Provider Custodian AIARC Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI) Citibank Contacts If you have questions about the Plan, please contact AIARC by email at IARCPlan@cgiar.org or by telephone at +1 703 548 4540. AIARC 901 N. Washington St. Suite 706 Alexandria VA 22314 USA Telephone: +1 703 548 4540 Fax: +1 703 548 5960 Email: IARCPlan@cgiar.org Membership To be eligible for the Offshore Retirement Plan, you must be actively employed by a Center and be a non U.S. taxpayer. If you are eligible to join the Plan, your Center will provide you with an Offshore Retirement Enrollment Form. This form will allow you to choose your investments, make voluntary contributions to be deducted from your monthly salary, and designate beneficiaries in the event of your death. IARC Plan Participant Guide 2014 Page 2 of 9
Contributions Center Contributions Your Center will contribute a monthly amount based on your employment agreement. The amount will be payable from the date you join the Plan until you leave employment. If you move to a different Center, you will rejoin the Plan based on your employment agreement with the new Center. You will have a separate account for each Center that you have worked for. Voluntary Contributions You can make your own monthly contributions to the Plan, which will be deducted from your pay. Your monthly contribution cannot exceed your monthly pay. For a calendar year, you can only contribute an amount up to your annual salary paid for that year. You may increase or decrease your contribution amount by completing the Voluntary Contribution Change Form. To stop your voluntary contributions, you must notify AIARC and your Center in writing. Benefits Benefits can be fully paid out of the Plan upon: retirement leaving the Center death while in service total and permanent disability while in service Retirement benefits The normal retirement age is as specified in the personnel policy of your Center. The Plan has provision for benefits for those retiring at normal retirement age or earlier or later than this date. If you reach normal retirement age and you continue to work, you can still draw retirement income from your Plan benefits. Please note that you will not be able to continue to contribute to the Plan once you start to draw retirement income. Upon your retirement, you have the option to: Leave your money in the Plan and make withdrawals as long as you have a minimum account balance of US $5,000. Receive the full balance of your account as a lump sum. IARC Plan Participant Guide 2014 Page 3 of 9
No guarantee is given regarding the future value of the benefits. The final value will depend on the amount of money contributed, investment returns achieved, and fees charged. Options upon termination of employment If you terminate with your Center, you can elect to remain in the Plan if your account balance is US $5,000 or more. Any such account will be subject to contribution restrictions and shall remain subject to all Plan rules. Death benefits If you die, your account becomes the property of your named beneficiaries. Your beneficiaries will have all the options available that are listed above in Retirement Benefits. Benefits on permanent and total disablement If you are covered by your Center s disability insurance and the Center contributions are met by the insurer, you may continue active participation in the Plan. Withdrawals An active participant can withdraw from his or her Voluntary contribution account up to four times per calendar year. The minimum amount for any withdrawal is $1,000, 1,000 or 100,000. Retirees can make withdraws from both Center and Voluntary contribution accounts. This is also limited to four withdrawals per calendar year, unless a regular monthly withdrawal is set up with AIARC. For security purposes, all withdrawals must be approved by AIARC. Without approval, the withdrawal will not be processed. Please note that Withdrawals can take between four to six weeks from the time of your request to the time the funds are deposited into your designated bank account. AIARC is not responsible for any changes in the value of your funds due to currency fluctuations and/or timing. Once AIARC has approved your withdrawal request, it will be included in the weekly batch submitted to AllianzGI to begin processing. To be included in the weekly batch, the request must be approved by AIARC prior to Monday 5 p.m. CET. The sale price of fund(s) will be as of the next available trading point depending on the investment fund(s) being sold following approval by AIARC. Please note that the trading time and settlement period will vary between different funds. Please refer to the Offshore Investment Guide for the settlement dates of the funds. There may also be occasions when public holidays will affect the settlement of your withdrawal. Once settlement has been received, the funds will be credited to your beneficiary bank. Please be aware that this may take several days depending on your bank s clearing process. IARC Plan Participant Guide 2014 Page 4 of 9
If your request for payment is to be made in a currency other than the currency of the funds from which you are withdrawing, fluctuations in currency exchange rates may result in you receiving more or less than you are expecting. There will also be a 0.50% currency conversion charge on the value of the funds withdrawn. Please refer to the Offshore Investment Guide for charges. Regular (recurring) withdrawals Retirees can set up 12 equal monthly withdrawals. Full Account Withdrawal Full Withdrawals can only be made upon retirement or termination employment. Security For a participant s protection, AIARC will perform identity verification checks. These checks will take place in advance of the withdrawal request being processed and may apply to changes in personal details, beneficiaries, contributions, and banking details. The verification check will either involve an email to your standard email address or a telephone interview. Please make sure that you are available to schedule a telephone interview. To avoid unnecessary delay, you should ensure that your contact details on the My Data section of the Online Service Platform are up to date. Any withdrawal request not approved prior to the processing deadline will be in the next available cycle. However, no withdrawal request will be processed until the identification verification check is satisfactorily completed by AIARC. Managing your account A key benefit of the Plan is online access to your personal account via the AllianzGI Online Services Platform. This platform allows you to perform the following functions: Review and update personal details Designate or change beneficiaries Download relevant forms and brochures Review Center and voluntary contributions Make investment choices Switch funds and redirect future contributions Review account balances and quarterly statements It is your responsibility to ensure that the information in your retirement account is correct and current. Incorrect information may cause processing delays or may cause outdated beneficiaries to receive your retirement account rather than your intended beneficiaries. IARC Plan Participant Guide 2014 Page 5 of 9
Making an Investment Decision Where to start! When deciding where to invest funds for retirement, plan participants range from novice to expert. Do it for me Let me do it participants who do not have the expertise or inclination to make an investment decision, but want to have their retirement account actively managed. For these participants, the LifeCycle Strategy product is an available option. participants who want to make their own investment choices. There is a variety of funds to choose from with a selection of different fund managers who invest in different asset classes to include money market funds, bond funds, equity funds and different geographical markets. Information about the various fund options can be found in the Offshore Retirement Plan Investment Guide and the IARCPlan.org website. The funds available on the AllianzGI Online Platform have been carefully selected by the Plan Directors based on recommendations from professional investment advisors. Please note that the Directors selection of a fund is not intended to act in any way as a recommendation for your investment strategy and you should choose funds that are appropriate for your personal circumstances, risk tolerance and investment time horizon. Understanding Risk When choosing your investment funds, you should ensure that you understand the different types of risks involved with investing. For example, if you are a long way from retirement, you may feel that you have the opportunity to take a higher investment risk in order to potentially receive higher returns, which could outstrip inflation over the long term and provide real returns on your investment. However, as you approach retirement, you may become more cautious and wish to safeguard against a sudden fall in the value of your funds. Just as it is important to understand your personal risk tolerance and investment time horizon, it is also important to understand that the past performance of funds is not necessarily indicative of future performance. The value of your investment can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you originally invested. For information about investment risk and available funds, please refer to the Offshore Retirement Plan Investment Guide at the IARCPlan.org website. Changing your investment decision You are able to change your investment decisions at any time. Fund switches can be made via the IARCPlan.org website. IARC Plan Participant Guide 2014 Page 6 of 9
Switches: fund to fund transfers You may switch funds within your account using the online switching facility. All online switch requests made prior to Monday 5pm (CET) will be included in the weekly switching batch. In the event of a public holiday, the cut off point will be 5pm (CET) on the previous business day. The sale price of fund(s) will be as of the next available trading point depending on the investment fund(s) being sold. The purchase price will be at the next available trading point depending on the investment fund(s) being bought once settlement from all relevant sales has been received. Please note that the trading time and settlement period will vary from fund to fund. There may also be occasions when public holidays will affect the time taken to complete your switch. There is a maximum of 4 switches and/or rebalances per calendar year per participant for selfselected funds (including switching into or out of the LifeCycle Strategy product). Switches: rebalancing In addition to individual fund switches, you may also rebalance your portfolio using the online rebalancing facility. This enables you to maintain a targeted percentage split between equities, bonds and cash. There is a maximum of 4 switches and/or rebalances per calendar year per participant for selfselected funds (including rebalances involving a switch into or out of the LifeCycle Strategy product). The administration process is the same as described in the fund to fund transfers section above. Please note for both fund to fund transfers and rebalancing, your funds will be out of market as it may take a few days to switch the holdings, depending upon the settlement period for the chosen investment funds (typically 3 5 days for redemption and 3 5 days for subscription). For the period that your funds are out of market, the share prices of your new investments could rise while the switches take place resulting in a loss of capital or they could fall resulting in a gain. AIARC is not responsible for any changes in the value of your funds due to currency fluctuations and/or timing. IARC Plan Participant Guide 2014 Page 7 of 9
Typical Timeline for a Rebalancing Order Transfers If you are a participant in another retirement plan, you have the option to transfer in these funds to your IARC Plan account, subject to satisfaction of the following criteria: The existing funds must reside in a qualified retirement/pension account. You must have a current retirement statement that lists the fund balance. Only the full amount of the account balance as listed on the current retirement statement can be transferred into the plan. Charges There are primarily two types of charges that will apply to your account investment costs and platform/administration charges. Please refer to the Offshore Retirement Investment Guide for an explanation of these costs. IARC Plan Participant Guide 2014 Page 8 of 9
Tax treatment Because your retirement account is held in Guernsey, you can move from country to country as you pursue your career with multiple IARC Centers. Although there is no internal taxation paid by the Plan, there may be withholding tax deducted from income and dividends within certain funds that cannot be reclaimed. The tax treatment of any contributions into and any benefits taken from the Plan will depend on your own personal circumstances and country of residence. It is always advisable to consult with a financial professional if you are in any doubt as to the extent to which you may be liable for any tax under this plan. Important information This guide is only intended to be a jargon free summary of the Plan. The Trust Deed and Rules will prevail in the event of any conflict as the Trust Deed and Rules are controlling. Information in this guide is based on the current understanding of international pension legislation and regulations as of the date of publication. This information is subject to change at any time, which may affect the Plan. This guide does not provide any individual advice, and you should make sure that the Plan is suitable for you before investing. If you are unsure about the Plan s suitability, you should seek independent financial advice, for which there may be a charge. In addition, you may experience changes to your personal circumstances, which may affect your entitlement to tax relief. This guide is not intended as an offer to invest. Please ensure that you read and understand all accompanying literature referenced to you in this guide. Amendment or termination AIARC reserves the right to amend or withdraw the Plan at any time. This includes the right to increase, decrease or discontinue Center contributions. AIARC and AllianzGI reserve the right to increase or decrease plan charges where necessary. You will be given prior notification of any proposed changes. IARC Plan Participant Guide 2014 Page 9 of 9