National Institute on Retirement Security
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) is a non-profit research institute based in Washington, D.C.
The institute's website describes its goals as seeking to "contribute to informed policy making in the area of retirement security by fostering a deep understanding of the value of traditional pension systems to employees, employers and the economy as a whole."[1]
[edit] History
NIRS is a leading national research organization focused on one of the most pressing public policy issues of our time - retirement security. The organization conducts research, education and outreach programs that are national in scope.
NIRS was established in early 2007 by three leading organizations in the retirement arena - Council of Institutional Investors, National Association of State Retirement Administrators, and National Council on Teacher Retirement. The founding members of NIRS represent pension funds with combined assets of $7 trillion.[2]
According to founding Board member, Meredith Williams, executive director of the $37.9 billion Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association, the organizations established NIRS as "a vehicle for obtaining independent research with respect to the various types of plan designs out there and the different arenas (in which) pension plans come to play." [3]
[edit] Leadership
The Executive Director of NIRS is Beth Almeida. Prior to this position, she served as assistant director for strategic resources and as senior economist at the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, where she was pivotal in transitioning some 40,000 airline workers into the IAM's multi-employer pension plan.[4]
The institute began with a seven-member board with two members each from the CII, NASRA and NCTR, including the executive directors of each of the three organizations. Also on the Board were Jack Ehnes, CII chairman and CEO of the $157.8 billion California State Teachers' Retirement System, Steve Yoakum, president of NASRA and executive director of the $26.2 billion Public School Retirement System of Missouri, and Meredith Williams, president of NCTR and executive director of the $37.9 billion Colorado Public Employees' Retirement Association. [5] A seventh director, Laurie Fiori Hacking, Executive Director of the Minnesota Teachers Retirement Association serves as the Chair of the NIRS Board. [6]
