NOITU INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT PLAN
IMPORTANT INFORMATION & PERFORMANCE UPDATE
By: Kevin O’Donnell, CPA, CEBS
We are pleased to report the daily valuation system has produced and mailed during mid-January the first annual statement for each participant titled Your Retirement Statement. In addition, there are statements available for each of the calendar quarters ending March, June, September, and December. You can view this statement at any time on the internet or print it for your records. We urge all participants to review their account statements and call the office at (718) 291-3434 option 6 with any questions.
If you have a change of address, you must complete a change of address form and return it to the Plan office.
Computers are provided upon request at the Louis Lasky Memorial Medical & Dental Centers and at the NOITU Office in Jamaica. Internet access is also available free of charge at most public libraries.
The Plans’ assets at December 31, 2009 exceed $26 million dollars and the participant deferral accounts are approximately $2.8 million dollars.
It is clear that more participants are now using the deferral feature and want to save for retirement. The deferral amounts deducted from your payroll are pretax and will reduce your overall federal and state tax liability.
The power of compounding your account balance and contributions will reward those who make the commitment and stay the course.
In order to be eligible for the deferral feature, your representative must negotiate this feature into the collective bargaining agreement and you must be employed for at least one year. Please contact your payroll department in order to obtain an election form or the Plan office with any questions.
The deferral accounts are always 100% vested. In order to enroll in this feature, you must complete an election form and return it to your employer no later than 15 days before the entry date. The entry dates fall on the first day of each calendar quarter (April 1, July 1, October 1, January 1) and you may discontinue the deduction at any time. You can access a portion of your participant deferral account balance while you are still working through a “Hardship” withdrawal for an immediate and heavy financial need as described by the Internal Revenue Service. We recommend consulting your tax advisor, as amounts withdrawn may be subject to additional taxes.
PERFORMANCE UPDATE:
For participants who wish to take an active roll in deciding how their NOITU Individual Account Plan balances will be invested, please see below for recent performance of the Plan’s risk based portfolios and core fund options.
|
INVESTMENT NAME
|
TICKLER
|
AS OF
|
YTD RETURN
|
|
Conservative Portfolio (details below)
|
|
12/31/2009
|
17.50%
|
|
Moderate Portfolio (details below)
|
|
12/31/2009
|
18.94%
|
|
Aggressive Portfolio (details below)
|
|
12/31/2009
|
31.37%
|
|
Schwab Retirement
Advantage Money Fund
|
SWIXX
|
12/31/2009
|
0.20%
|
|
PIMCO Total Return
Institutional Bond Fund
|
PTTRX
|
12/31/2009
|
13.83%
|
|
Vanguard S&P 500 Index Fund
|
VFINX
|
12/31/2009
|
26.49%
|
|
Oakmark Equity & Income Fund (QDIA)
|
OAKBK
|
12/31/2009
|
19.84%
|
|
MUTUAL FUND
|
YTD RETURN AS OF 12/31/2009
|
CONSERVATIVE MODEL
|
MODERATE MODEL
|
AGGRESSIVE MODEL
|
|
MainStay ICAP
Select Equity I (ICSLX)
|
29.07
|
7.5%
|
15%
|
15%
|
|
Vanguard S&P 500
Index Fund (VFINX)
|
26.49
|
10%
|
15%
|
15%
|
|
Brandywine Blue (BLUEX)
|
9.28
|
7.5%
|
15%
|
15%
|
|
Keeley Small Cap Value (KSCVX)
|
21.67
|
5%
|
5%
|
15%
|
|
Harbor International Inv. (HIINX)
|
38.04
|
5%
|
5%
|
30%
|
|
Lazard Emerging Market Inst. (LZEMX)
|
69.82
|
0%
|
0%
|
10%
|
|
PIMCO Total Return Bond Fund (PTTRX)
|
13.83
|
65%
|
45%
|
0%
|
|
TOTAL
|
|
100%
|
100%
|
100%
|
Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses of a fund carefully before investing. Prospectuses containing this and other information about the fund are available on www.noitu-iap.com. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing to make sure that the fund is appropriate for your goals and risk tolerance. The performance information shown represents past performance and is not a guarantee of future results. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that the shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance.
PORTFOLIO ALLOCATION CHANGE
On January 26, 2010, the Board of Trustees of the NOITU Individual Account Plan met with the Plan’s Investment Consultants to review the Plan’s investment options and the risk-based portfolios. After evaluating the relevant factors related to the performance, management & governance of the Plan’s investment options, the Board of Trustees will take the following action:
Investment Change
On March 1, 2010, the Brandywine Blue Fund (tickler symbol BLUEX) will be removed from all risk-based portfolios (Conservative, Moderate, and Aggressive). All allocations and balances will be transferred to the MainStay Large Cap Growth Fund Class I (tickler symbol MLAIX). The MainStay Large Cap Growth Fund is a mutual fund rated five stars (highest Morningstar Rating™) by Morningstar®.
If you are invested in one of the risk based portfolios, this change will occur for you automatically.
New Portfolio Allocations as of March 1, 2010
Asset allocation is challenging even for experienced investors. The purpose of risk-based portfolios is to help you devise an effective investment allocation. These portfolios are constructed from mutual funds to provide a single investment option that seeks to meet your investment objectives based on your risk profile, whether you are a Conservative, Moderate, or Aggressive investor.
A typical investment strategy would be to invest 100% of your contributions into the portfolio that matches your risk profile. To determine your risk profile, please complete the Investor Profile Questionnaire available on the Plan’s website at www.noituiap.com by selecting “Reports & Forms” then “Forms”. Each portfolio is professionally managed and is automatically rebalanced on a quarterly basis to maintain its risk level. In addition, for the purpose of the above change, the portfolios will be rebalanced on March 1, 2010.
WHERE TO GO FOR FURTHER INVESTMENT INFORMATION
You may access your account by logging on to www.noituiap.com. Your default User ID is your Social Security. Number (no dashes). You default password is your date of birth in the ‘mmddyyyy’ format. For example, if your date of birth is July 29, 1959, your password will be 07291959. You may also access your account on the phone system by calling (800) 789-4015. You will be prompted to enter your Social Security Number and Personal Identification Number (“PIN”). Initially, your PIN will be the last four digits of your Social Security Number. You may change your password or PIN at anytime. To learn more about the Plan’s investment alternatives and procedures for changing how your accounts are invested, you can contact the Plan Administrator at (718) 291-3434 option 6
