PUBLIC NOTICE
Please be informed of the Marshall Islands Social Security Administration’s (MISSA) new policy on addressing and/or depositing of benefit checks effective September 26, 2011.

MISSA will only allow net benefit check payments to be addressed to the registered mailing address of the benefit payee, deposited to the benefit payee’s sole/individual account only, or through general delivery (pick up at MISSA).

MISSA shall only accept benefit checks to be deposited to the beneficiary’s sole and individual account and not allow deposits to any joint account, except for off-island benefit payees who are terminally ill and are physically incapable of opening an account on their own. Sufficient evidence must be provided to the satisfaction of the administration for an exception to be granted.

Current beneficiaries with existing payment addresses and depository accounts, contrary to the above policy, must update their accounts and addresses otherwise their benefit will be put on hold starting September 2011.

For latest downloadable general form visit: http://www.rmimissa.org/Forms/Index.html

 

2010 INVESTMENT REVIEW
(Excerpts from the 4th Quarter 2010 Final  Performance Report by Frank Armstrong of Investor Solutions, Inc..,MISSA’s Investment Advisor)

After a slow start and a tough second quarter, most markets in the world ended the year with positive results. The US market indices accounted for most of the top performance, with the Russell 2000 Growth Index delivering 29.09% return for the year. US small cap and small value also were among the top performers.

Most developed markets around the world logged positive returns, with thirty-seven of the forty-five countries that MSCI tracks gaining ground in both local currency and US dollar terms. Scandinavia and Asia had particularly high returns. Overall, the MSCI World ex USA index gained 9%, and the MSCI Emerging Markets Index gained 19% for the year.

In the last few months of the year, the highest returns were generally experienced by countries whose economies are dominated by oil and commodity exports-for example, Canada, Norway, Russia, and South Africa. Other emerging markets such as Thailand, Philippines, Chile and Peru had strong returns. China, despite its continued high profile and news of economic growth, was one of the lowest-performing emerging markets. Read More..

 

 

 

RAQUEL IS MISSA’S NEW CFO AND DEPUTY ADMINISTRATOR FOR CORPORATE SERVICES

MISSA has promoted Raquel de Leon to the post of Deputy Administrator (for Corporate Services) & Chief Financial Officer effective December  9, 2010.

Raquel is a Filipino CPA and has a solid background in financial analysis and accounting system design, with strong emphasis on internal control. She has extensive experience in audit, banking, financial management, handling people and in presenting results to top management. She is also skilled in developing and implementing accounting and operations policies and quality procedures gained from previous work experiences. 

Prior to her employment with the Administration, Raquel was with St. Luke’s Medical Center in the Philippines where she held the post of Senior Auditor III from September 2007 through February 2009 and then as Section Manager-General Accounting from March 2009 through February 2010 at St. Luke's Medical Center Global CIty.

Raquel has also held various supervisory and managerial posts in Finance and Accounting in Qatar and the Philippines.

Raquel joined the Administration in September, 2011 as Finance Manager. Her hiring was in preparation for the smooth transition of responsibilities by the outgoing Deputy Administrator and CFO, Sheryl Profeta, who subsequently migrated to Canada in December 2010.

With her promotion, Raquel’s responsibilities include the oversight of MISSA’s accounting, treasury, customer service, tax compliance, tax audit and human resources departments. She will also be working hand-in-hand with the Retirement Fund Division headed by Bill Joseph, Deputy Administrator for retirement Fund and Chief Operating Officer.

 

 

MISSA bids farewell to Sheryl

The Administration bids farewell to Mary Sheryl Jane Profeta, MISSA’s Deputy Administrator (for Corporate Services) and Chief Financial Officer, who just recently left, together with her husband, to seek for other opportunities in Canada.

Sheryl joined MISSA in December 2006 and consistently maintained MISSA’s strong internal controls over financial recording and reporting. The no finding audits and unqualified opinions earned by MISSA from its external auditors for FYs 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 were made possible because of her exemplary handling of Corporate Services Division, more particularly accounting and treasury, the departments that are normally prone to non-compliance to policies and procedures.

Recently, one of the most notable act of excellence attributable to Sheryl was MISSA’s being recognized as the first government agency, not only in RMI, but among the twelve (12) Association of Pacific Island Public Auditors (APIPA) member parties, to be issued an audit report for FY 2010. She did the same feat in FY 2009.

Sheryl is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and held various supervisory and managerial posts in finance, accounting and audit for about fifteen years in the Philippines. She has a bachelor’s degree in Accounting (Cum Laude) and earned several MBA units from one of the universities in the Philippines.

Sheryl is also an active officer and member of the Filipino Association of the Marshall Islands (FAMI) and is married to Bong Profeta, Asst. EDP Manager of RRE.

 

 

MISSA’s Audited Financial Performance for FY 2010

Fiscal year 2010 has been a challenging year for MISSA with collections flattening, benefit payments continuing to increase and $1 million being liquidated from MISSA’s Time Certificate of Deposit at BOMI. The Administration had expected and prepared for this cash shortage in early 2006. The recent liquidation of $1 million is the first of its kind in the last decade as MISSA has not tapped into its Trust Fund in a span of ten years. Investments faired well this fiscal year with net investment income at $5,490,636, which is an increase of 64.03% when compared to the net investment income $3,347,438 in the previous fiscal year.

As of September 30, 2010, MISSA’s total net assets held in reserve for future benefits have increased to $68,543,988.

MISSA has no debt and did not have material activity in its capital assets. Read More

 

 

 

 

Future Economic Outlook

Fiscal Year 2010 ended with MISSA facing one of the most challenging years in the past decade. Carrying forward from last fiscal year, the Administration faces an even more difficult FY 2011, when it expects a more substantial cash flow crisis than that experienced in FY 2010. Before the end of FY 2011, another $2.7 million is projected to be withdrawn from MISSA’s cash reserves. These cash shortfalls are evident in the Administration’s latest actuarial report which gave the Administration’s life expectancy of just a little more than 10 years if no reforms are enforced in the present social security system in the country.

MISSA’s approved budgeted revenues for FY 2011 stand at $12.05 million while projected benefit payments amount to $15.8 million. Another $937 thousand was earmarked for administrative expenses. This simple equation translates to a deficit of more than $4 million. The only way to reverse this gloomy scenario is if MISSA’s investments perform extremely well in FY 2011 or the RMI Government injects enough cash to help MISSA sustain its benefit programs without dipping into its trust funds. Although MISSA’s local investments have continually performed above par in past years, investments outside the country remains volatile and uncertain. Read More

 

 

Cabinet approves establishment of Social Security Reform Commission

During its September 13, 2010 meeting, the Cabinet approved the establishment of theSocial Security Reform Commission (SSRC).

The main task of the commission is to conduct a comprehensive review of the present social security system and to provide Cabinet with recommended amendments to the Social Security Act of 1990, as amended, which will ensure the viability of the Retirement Fund in the immediate and long term.

The seven-member commission is comprised of:

1. Public Works Minister Maynad Alfred (Chairman),
2. Senator Donald Capelle,
3. MISSA Administrator Saane K. Aho
4. Deputy Chief Secretary Jorelik Tibon,
5. Carlos Domnick, CEO of Anil Development Corporation
6. Ben Chutaro, Consultant
7. Sultan Korean, BOMI Chief Compliance Officer

Read More