FEDERAL RETIREMENT THRIFT INVESTMENT BOARD

77 K Street, NE Washington, DC 20002

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD MEMBERS

December 20, 2022

Michael F. Gerber, Chair of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, 

convened a meeting of the Board members on December 20, 2022, at 10:00 a.m., 

Eastern Daylight Time. The meeting was held virtually and was open to the public. In 

attendance were Dana K. Bilyeu of Oregon, member; Leona M. Bridges of California, 

member; Stacie Olivares of California, member; Ravindra Deo, Executive Director; 

Dharmesh Vashee, General Counsel and Secretary; Suzanne Tosini, Chief Operating 

Officer and Deputy Executive Director; Kimberly A. Weaver, Director, Office of External 

Affairs; Susan Crowder, Chief Financial Officer; Gisile Goethe, Director, Office of 

Resource Management; James Courtney, Director, Office of Communications and 

Education; Sean McCaffrey, Chief Investment Officer; Tee Ramos, Director, Office of 

Participant Services; Vijay Desai, Chief Information Officer; and Thomas Brandt, Chief 

Risk Officer.

Welcome and Introductions. 

Chair Gerber called to order the monthly meeting of the Federal 

Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB or Agency) at 10:01 a.m. and welcomed 

everyone present to the meeting.

1. Approval of the Minutes of the November 18, 2022, Board Meeting. 

Chair Gerber entertained a motion for approval of the minutes of the 

November 18, 2022, Board meeting. The following motion was made, seconded, and 

adopted without objection:

MOTION: That the minutes of the Board meeting held on November 18, 

2022, be approved.

2. Monthly Reports. 

Mr. Deo gave opening remarks, including a summary of the agenda of the

meeting.

a. Participant Activity Report

Mr. Ramos reviewed the monthly Participant Activity Report. See “Thrift 

Savings Fund Statistics November 2022” (attached). He reported that hardship 

withdrawals declined 25 percent in November, and loan numbers remained roughly

the same. Both hardship withdrawals and loans are up approximately 50 percent for the 

year. He believes this increase can be attributed to ease of use and changes to the loan 

program that allows for two general purpose loans. He noted that other recordkeepers
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in the defined contribution marketplace have reported an increase in their hardship 

withdrawal volumes for 2022.

Mr. Ramos reported that the contact center continued to answer calls 

promptly. Call volumes fell just over eight percent from October to November, but 

participant interaction via email and live chat is continuing to increase month over 

month. Live chat volume increased roughly 35 percent from the prior month, and email 

volume has gone up by just under seven percent.

Member Bilyeu and Chair Gerber expressed appreciation for Mr. Ramos’ 

hard work over the years and his commitment to participants and beneficiaries.

b. Investment Report

Mr. McCaffrey reviewed the monthly investment report. See “November 

2022 Investment Program Review” (attached). For the month of November, 

BlackRock’s performance for the F, C, and S Funds was in line with their respective 

indices. Performance for the I Fund was ahead of the International Index by 246 

basis points primarily due to fair value pricing.

For State Street in November, performance for the F Fund exceeded the 

Fixed Income Index’s return by four basis points primarily due to securities

sampling. Performance for the C Fund matched the Large Cap Index, and performance 

for the S Fund was in line with the Small Mid Cap Index returns.

Early in the month of November, the Federal Reserve cited elevated 

inflation as it raised its target interest rate range by 75 basis points for the fourth 

consecutive time. However, a lower-than-expected mid-month inflation report and public 

comments by Fed officials sparked optimism among many investors that forthcoming 

moves by the central bank might be less aggressive. The C and S Funds posted gains. 

The I Fund rose sharply, helped in part by a weaker U.S. dollar. Interest rates fell during 

the month, contributing to a gain for the F Fund.

Year-to-date, BlackRock’s performance for the F Fund was ahead of the 

Fixed Income Index’s return by 48 basis points primarily due to securities lending. In 

addition, performance for the C Fund was ahead of the Large Cap Index by four basis 

points, and the S Fund exceeded the Small Mid Cap Index’s returns by 37 basis points, 

both primarily due to securities lending. Performance for the I Fund was ahead of the 

International Index by 224 basis points primarily due to fair value pricing.

State Street’s year-to-date performance for the F Fund exceeded the 

Fixed Income Index’s return by 10 basis points, primarily due to securities

lending. Returns for the C Fund were in line with the Large Cap Index. For the S Fund, 

State Street outperformed the Small Mid Cap Index by 31 basis points primarily due to 

securities lending.
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Mr. McCaffrey noted that stock markets have been down in December.

Through Monday, December 19, 2022, the C Fund is down 6.35 percent, the S Fund is 

down 7.72 percent, and the I Fund has lost 2.85 percent. On the other hand, the F Fund 

is ahead 1.08 percent, and the G Fund has earned 0.2 percent.

Mr. McCaffrey provided an update on the multi-manager project. On 

December 9, 2022, the Thrift Savings Plan’s (TSP) two investment managers

completed the implementation of the Board’s two-manager directive by transferring 

approximately 20 percent of the value of the I Fund between them. State Street Global 

Advisors received an in-kind transfer of international securities from BlackRock 

accompanied by a relatively small amount of cash. The total amount was approximately

12.4 billion dollars, of which about 383 million dollars was in cash. Going forward, State 

Street will manage 20 percent of the underlying I Fund assets in addition to amounts it 

already manages for the F Fund, the C Fund, and the S Fund. As a result, beginning 

with the TSP’s reporting of January Fund performance in the monthly Board Meetings, 

the F, C, S, and I Funds will be included for both managers.

Mr. McCaffrey thanked both asset managers, investment consultants, and 

several Agency employees for their assistance in this complex effort. In turn, Member 

Bilyeu and Chair Gerber expressed their appreciation to Mr. McCaffrey and Mr. Deo.

c. Legislative Report

Ms. Weaver reported that the National Defense Authorization Bill passed 

last week with no effect on the TSP. She also reported that on the prior day, Congress 

unveiled the omnibus appropriations bill, a 4,100-page bill that includes provisions of 

SECURE 2.0, the Enhancing American Retirement Now (EARN) Act, and the 

Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act (RESA). Most notably the bill increases the 

required minimum distribution age to 73 beginning January 1, 2023. The Board will

hear more about other applicable provisions after the Agency has an opportunity to 

review them. She noted that, other than those in the SECURE 2.0 Act, there are no 

other provisions in the bill that affect the TSP. The Senate will vote on the omnibus bill 

on Thursday, which is the deadline for the bill’s passage. After the Senate votes, the bill 

will go to the House.

3. Quarterly Vendor Risk Management Update. 

Mr. Brandt presented the Office of Planning and Risk’s (OPR) synopsis of 

the risk assessment for key vendors that are critical to operating the TSP. See

“Quarterly Vendor Risk Assessment – 3rd Quarter Calendar Year (CY) 2022” (attached).

Mr. Brandt stated that OPR is reporting on its assessment of five vendors 

after analyzing various sources of data and evaluating metrics to assess their solvency, 

liquidity, and profitability. He noted that the number of vendors is down from eight that 

were previously reported on, because Databank, Equinix, and Fidelity National 

Information Services are no longer providing services directly to the FRTIB after the
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Converge program transition. OPR’s analysis found all vendors are able to fulfill their 

contractual obligations to FRTIB.

Member Bilyeu thanked Mr. Brandt for his work analyzing the vendors and 

noted that she is pleased that the vendor list has gotten shorter.

4. Internal Audit Update. 

Ms. Barbara Holmes, Chief Audit Executive, provided an update on the 

2022 Internal Audit Plan. See “Internal Audit Update” (attached). Her team has 

completed the Vendor Management Contract Closeout Audit, the Office of Investment 

File Review, and the GAO Audit Readiness Exercise. They are in the report-writing 

phase for the Treasury Reconciliation Oversight Audit and the Decommissioning of 

Legacy Assets Audit.

Ms. Holmes noted that three audits were added to the original plan that 

she presented to the Board at the beginning of the year. Due to these additions, she 

moved the Insider Threat Audit and the Improper Payments Audit to 2023. Her team 

already performed an initial test of design of the Insider Threat Program in late 2021, as 

well as reviewed the Improper Payments Draft Policies and Procedures.

Ms. Holmes explained that the audit of the Vendor Management and Contract 

Closeout Process was a follow-up to an audit the Agency conducted in 2018. The scope 

period for this current audit was January 1, 2021, through April 30, 2022. Ms. Holmes 

issued two notices of findings for this audit. The first related to data quality in PRISM, 

the Agency’s procurement support and contracting writing software, and the second to 

Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) understanding of requirements. Ms. Holmes 

explained that as they were conducting this audit, the Acquisition Management Division 

was also conducting a significant clean-up and catch-up exercise to address the data 

quality issues that the Internal Audit team discovered.

Internal Audit completed the File Plan Review of the Office of Investments 

with no exceptions and are moving on to the Office of External Affairs. Ms. Holmes 

stated that they will complete this project in early 2023.

Ms. Holmes shared that as of December 20, 2022, there are six open 

internal audit findings. Four are from 2022 audits, and the others are from previous 

years.

Ms. Holmes stated that she is developing the 2023 Internal Audit Plan and 

the tentative scope for each audit, which she will present at the January 2023 Board 

meeting. She is also drafting a strategic plan for Internal Audit and, as a starting point, 

used the historical internal audit activity information included in the appendix to her 

presentation to provide a snapshot of the current status of Internal Audit. She plans to 

share with the Board where she sees Internal Audit going in the future.
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5. Review of FRTIB 2023 Board Meeting Calendar. 

Mr. Deo provided an overview of the 2023 Board Meeting Calendar. He 

stated that he expected the Board to have 10 in-person meetings starting in January, 

and November and December meetings will be telephonic. He explained that the last 

two dates are not according to the normal calendar to ensure the Board meetings do not 

collide with the weeks of Thanksgiving or Christmas.

6. Adjourn. 

On a vote taken by the Chair, the members closed the meeting at 10:23

a.m. for executive session.

At 11:07 a.m., upon completion of the executive session, the members 

reconvened the open portion of the meeting.

Whereupon there being no further business, the following motion was 

made, seconded, and adopted without objection and Chair Gerber adjourned the 

meeting at 11:07 a.m.

MOTION: That this meeting be adjourned.

Dharmesh Vashee

General Counsel and Secretary

Attachments

1. Thrift Savings Fund Statistics November 2022

2. November 2022 Investment Program Review

3. Quarterly Vendor Risk Assessment – 3rd Quarter Calendar Year (CY) 2022

4. Internal Audit Update

5. FRTIB 2023 Board Meeting Calendar