Press Releases

August 31, 2010

Champaign, IL — The Audit Committee, Corporate Governance Committee, Executive Committee, Governmental Affairs Committee, Investment Committee, Personnel and Resource Committee, and the Board of Trustees of the State Universities Retirement System (SURS) will meet on Thursday, September 2, 2010, beginning at 1:00 p.m. and Friday, September 3, 2010, beginning at 9:00 a.m.

All meetings will be held in the London Room B9 at the Northern Trust, 50 South La Salle St., Chicago, Illinois 60603.

Times shown on the agendas that follow are approximate.

June 8, 2010

Champaign, IL — The Audit Committee, Corporate Governance Committee, Executive Committee, Governmental Affairs Committee, Investment Committee, Personnel and Resource Committee, and the Board of Trustees of the State Universities Retirement System (SURS) will meet on Thursday, June 10, 2010, beginning at 1:00 p.m. and Friday, June 11, 2010, beginning at 9:00 a.m.

All meetings will be held in The Northern Trust Company, 50 S. LaSalle Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60675.

Times shown on the agendas that follow are approximate.

May 24, 2010

The State Universities Retirement System (SURS) Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the appointment of William E. Mabe as Executive Director, effective June 21, 2010. This appointment concludes a search conducted by nationally recognized EFL Associates on behalf of the SURS Board of Trustees.

SURS Chairwoman Carrie Hightman stated, "We welcome Bill to the SURS family. He is a proven leader with a strong track record of improving the operational performance of both private and public sector organizations. His previous experience with annuities, pension, life, health, workers compensation and property casualty operations in both the public and private sectors provides a strong platform for managing the day-to-day and long term challenges faced by SURS."

Mr. Mabe is a seasoned business executive with over 30 years of private and public sector experience. He previously worked in multiple capacities during a 25 year career at Nationwide Insurance, including as President and CEO Nationwide Health Plans, SVP Operations Officer for Nationwide Provident Insurance Co, and VP Operations for Nationwide Public Sector Pensions.

In 2005, Mr. Mabe assumed leadership of the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation in Columbus, Ohio. As CEO, he led the turnaround of the $17 billion Workers Compensation Fund and was able to achieve a $500 million improvement in the bottom line while increasing surplus by 300 percent to $2 billion in just over 18 months.

Most recently, Mr. Mabe has provided strategic consulting services to both private sector insurance companies and public sector pension plans. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree from Ohio State University and a Law Degree from Capital University Law School. Mr. Mabe is married and has three adult children.

The State Universities Retirement System of Illinois (SURS) ranks as one of the 100 largest pension plans in the United States with assets of $13.2 billion as of March 31, 2010. SURS serves 65 employers in Illinois including state universities, community colleges, and state agencies. It employs 124 people in its office in Champaign, Illinois, and provides benefit services to 208,245 members throughout the world.

May 6, 2010

Champaign, IL — The Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees of the State Universities Retirement System is scheduled to meet at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, May, 6, 2010.

Times shown on the following agenda is approximate.

May 6, 2010

Champaign, IL — The Executive Director Search Committee and the Board of Trustees of the State Universities Retirement System are scheduled to meet beginning at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, May, 6, 2010.

The meeting will be held at The Northern Trust Company, 50 S. LaSalle, Chicago, Illinois, 60675.

Times shown on the following agendas are approximate.

April 14, 2010

Champaign, IL — The Investment Committee and the Board of Trustees of the State Universities Retirement System (SURS) will meet on Friday, April 16, 2010, beginning at 10:00 a.m.

All meetings will be held in the Michigan Conference Room at Ennis Knupp & Associates, 10 South Riverside Plaza, Chicago, Illinois 60606.

Times shown on the agendas that follow are approximate.

April 2, 2010

Champaign, IL — The Executive Director Search Committee of the Board of Trustees of the State Universities Retirement System is scheduled to meet at 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April, 6, 2010.

The meeting will be held at the offices of Burke, Burns & Pinelli, Three First National Plaza, Suite 4300, 70 West Madison Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60602.

Times shown on the following agenda are approximate.

March 25, 2010

Champaign, IL — The Executive Director Search Committee of the Board of Trustees of the State Universities Retirement System is scheduled to meet at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday March, 25, 2010. The meeting will take place at the Northern Trust Company, 50 S. LaSalle, Chicago, Illinois.

Times shown on the following agenda are approximate.

March 5, 2010

Champaign, IL — The Audit Committee, Corporate Governance Committee, Executive Committee, Governmental Affairs Committee, Investment Committee, Personnel and Resource Committee, and the Board of Trustees of the State Universities Retirement System (SURS) will meet on Wednesday, March 10, 2010, beginning at 2:00 p.m. and Thursday, March 11, 2010, beginning at 10:00 a.m.

All meetings will be held in the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel, 701 East Adams Street, Springfield, Illinois 62701.

Times shown on the following agendas are approximate.

February 19, 2010

Champaign, IL — The Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees of the State Universities Retirement System (SURS) will hold a meeting on Tuesday, February 23, 2010, beginning at 3:30 p.m.

The meeting will be held at the offices of Burke, Burns & Pinelli, Three First National Plaza, Suite 4300, Chicago, Illinois, 60602.

Times shown on the following agenda are approximate.

February 2, 2010

Champaign, IL — The Investment Committee, the Corporate Governance Committee, the Board of Trustees, and the Executive Director Search Committee of the State Universities Retirement System (SURS) will meet on Thursday, February 4, 2010, beginning at 1:00 p.m. The Trustee Educational Forum will be held on Friday, February 5, 2010, beginning at 9:00 a.m.

All meetings will be held in the Michigan Conference Room at Ennis Knupp + Associates, 10 S. Riverside Plaza, Suite 1600, Chicago, Illinois.

Times shown on the following agendas are approximate.

January 13, 2010

Champaign, IL — The Governmental Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees of the State Universities Retirement System (SURS) will hold a meeting on Friday, January 15, 2010, beginning at 1:30 p.m.

The meeting will be held at the Northern Trust, 50 S. LaSalle, Chicago, Illinois, 60603.

Times shown on the following agenda are approximate.

December 21, 2009

Champaign, IL — The Executive Director Search Committee of the Board of Trustees of the State Universities Retirement System (SURS) will hold a meeting on Wednesday, December 23, 2009, beginning at 4:00 p.m.

The meeting will be held at the Northern Trust, 50 S. LaSalle, Chicago, Illinois, 60603.

Times shown on the following agenda are approximate.

December 3, 2009

Champaign, IL — The Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees of the State Universities Retirement System (SURS) will hold an emergency meeting on Friday, December 4, 2009, beginning at 12:00 p.m.

The meeting will be held at the Northern Trust, 50 S. LaSalle, Chicago, Illinois, 60603.

Times shown on the following agenda are approximate.

November 25, 2009

Champaign, IL — The Audit Committee, Corporate Governance Committee, Executive Committee, Governmental Affairs Committee, Investment Committee, Personnel and Resource Committee, and the Board of Trustees of the State Universities Retirement System (SURS) will meet on Tuesday, December 1, 2009, beginning at 10:00 a.m. and Wednesday, December 2, 2009, beginning at 9:00 a.m.

All meetings will be held in the London Room B9 at the Northern Trust, 50 S. LaSalle, Chicago, Illinois.

Times shown on the following agendas are approximate.

November 16, 2009

Champaign, IL — The Executive Director Search Committee of the Board of Trustees of the State Universities Retirement System is scheduled to meet at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, November 18, 2009. The meeting will take place in Room 2 on the 8th Floor, at the Northern Trust Company, 50 S. LaSalle, Chicago, Illinois.

Times shown on the following agenda are approximate.

November 3, 2009

Champaign, IL — The Executive Director Search Committee of the Board of Trustees of the State Universities Retirement System is scheduled to meet at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, November 6, 2009. The meeting will take place in Room 2 on the 8th Floor, at the Northern Trust Company, 50 S. LaSalle, Chicago, Illinois.

Times shown on the following agenda are approximate.

June 18, 2009

Champaign, IL — The State Universities Retirement System Board of Trustees Election was held yesterday in South Elgin, Illinois.

Ms. Judith Parker, Interim Executive Director and Secretary of the Board of Trustees, announces that the following individuals have been elected to the Board of Trustees:

• Jeffrey R. Beaulieu, Carbondale, 3 year term
• Dorinda K. Miller, Urbana, 3 year term
• J. Fred Giertz, Champaign, 6 year term
• Antonio A. Vasquez, Chicago, 6 year term

• John H. Engstrom, Sycamore, 3 year term
• Mitchell Vogel, Evanston, 6 year term

Public Act 96-0006 created a new eleven member Board of Trustees. Incumbent candidates Vasquez and Vogel were successfully elected and will continue their service on the Board.

The new Board is comprised of four elected contributing members, two elected annuitants, four Governor-appointed Trustees, and the Chairperson who is Ms. Carrie Hightman, of Chicago. Ms. Hightman is also the Chairperson of the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

The four appointed Trustee positions have not yet been named by Governor Quinn.

April 6, 2009

Champaign, IL — Governor Quinn signed Public Act 96-0006 into law on April 3, 2009. This legislation, among other things, changes the composition of the current board structure and eliminates the current Governor-elected Board of Trustees of the State Universities Retirement System. The new board will consist of 11 trustees: 4 appointed by the Governor, 4 active participants elected by the participants of the System, and 2 annuitants elected by the annuitants of the System. The Chair of the SURS Board will be the Chairperson of the Illinois Board of Higher Education.

The intent of this legislation is broad ethics reform aimed at a specific incident of impropriety which had nothing to do with SURS, but with one other retirement system in the state. The SURS Board of Trustees and staff pride themselves on conducting their activities in accordance with the law and with high ethical standards. SURS maintains openness and transparency through posting its financial statements, investment information, and board minutes on the SURS website. The elimination of the current Board of Trustees is not a result of unethical actions of the board or staff. SURS wishes to reassure the citizens of Illinois that the System strives to provide for SURS annuitants, participants, and their employers, in accordance with state law, the best and most cost-effective benefit administration services in the United States; manage and invest the fund´s assets prudently; and endeavor to achieve and maintain a financially sound retirement system.