ELCA Pension Board Interest Crediting Rate

     MINNEAPOLIS (ELCA) -- Trustees of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Board of Pensions unanimously recommended that interest crediting rates for retirees be increased in 1998.  This means that both the bond fund and balanced fund reserves that provide income for retirees will be credited at a higher rate of earnings than earlier projected.  The reserves are the source of funding for ELCA pensions.
     Final rates for 1997 were 6 percent for the bond fund pension reserve and 8.4 percent for the balanced fund pension reserve and the transitional pension fund.  For 1998 the trustees approved rates of 6.5 percent for the bond fund pension reserve and 9.4 percent for the balanced fund reserve and transitional pension fund.
     The ELCA Board of Pensions trustees took action through their executive committee Dec. 22 to stop the development of a new pension administration computer system.  Trustees halted work after staff determined the board would face additional delays and unacceptable costs to complete the system, which was already behind schedule and over budget.  The board will continue exploring ways to provide members with more flexibility in the future.
     John G. Kapanke, president of the ELCA Board of Pensions, announced two staffing changes.  Lynne Gehling, senior investment manager, will head up the pension administration unit.  Chief financial officer, David Adams, will oversee software engineering operations and the technical service area.  The two will assume responsibilities held previously by two vice presidents, Lyle Anderson and Vernon Bolte, who recently left the pension board.
     Trustees elected Emma Porter, a member of New Hope Lutheran Church, New York, to chair the Board of Pensions trustees for a two-year term.  Porter is an information systems consultant to Fortune 500 companies.  She holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics and a master's degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina.  She succeeds Ralph Eckert of Dillon, Colo., whose term on the 21-member board of trustees ended in 1997.

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or
NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html