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FEDERAL RETIREMENT THRIFT INVESTMENT BOARD 

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE BOARD MEMBERS 

June 28, 2022 

David A. Jones, Acting Chairperson of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment 

Board, convened a meeting of the Board members on June 28, 2022, at 10:00 a.m., 

Eastern Daylight Time. The meeting was held via video teleconference and open to the 

public. In attendance were Dana K. Bilyeu of Oregon, member; Leona Bridges of 

California, member; Michael Gerber of Pennsylvania, 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; Gisile Goethe, 

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

Communications and Education; Tee Ramos, Director, Office of Participant Services; 

Sean McCaffrey, Chief Investment Officer; Vijay Desai, Chief Technology Officer; and 

Thomas Brandt, Chief Risk Officer. 

Welcome and Introductions. 

 

Acting Chairperson Jones called to order the monthly meeting of 

the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB or Agency) at 10:00 a.m. Acting 

Chairperson Jones welcomed the new Board members and thanked all of the former 

Board members for their years of service. 

 

1. Approval of the Minutes of the May 24, 2022 Joint Board/ETAC Meeting. 

Acting Chairperson Jones entertained a motion for approval of the minutes 

of the May 24, 2022, Joint Board/ETAC meeting. The following motion was made, 

seconded, and adopted without objection: 

 

MOTION: That the minutes of the Joint Board/ETAC meeting held on May 

24, 2022 be approved. 

2. Converge Update. 

Tanner Nohe, Converge Program Manager, began by recounting why the 

Agency decided to transition to Converge and the process involved. See “Converge 

Update” (attached). Mr. Nohe reported that the Agency previously operated as the 

integrator, working with multiple vendors and multiple systems to deliver recordkeeping 

services to participants. Previously, the FRTIB owned and maintained all of the IT 

systems, all of the applications, the infrastructure, and the security systems. He noted 

that the previous technology and infrastructure were not agile and not scalable. 

Converge seeks to bring FRTIB’s offerings more closely in line with best-in-class 

commercial offerings and to bring the traditional benefits of the TSP to a more modern 
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and efficient platform. The June 1, 2022 go-live was the culmination of over six years of 

research, due diligence, and preparation. 

Mr. Ramos discussed the scope of Converge and some of the data 

collected since go-live, as well as some of the challenges that the Agency is facing. He 

began with an executive summary of his remarks. 

Mr. Ramos reported that in January 2022 the Agency began 

communicating the upcoming changes to all TSP participants through all available 

channels, informing them of the new features, key transition dates and details they 

would need to set up online access to My Account after the transition. The Agency 

anticipated some bumps in the transition, but some participants experienced more 

difficulties than expected after go-live, including trouble logging in to the new website on 

the first few days. The Agency has seen an extremely high volume of calls at the call 

centers, which has resulted in long delays to speak with representatives. Currently 90 

percent of participants who have attempted to set up their new login have done so 

successfully, and 90 percent was the target the Agency was hoping to obtain. To handle 

the increased volume, the number of call center representatives was increased to over 

800 representatives. 

As part of the Converge transition, the Agency converted more than 26 

billion records for 6.6 million participants and balanced roughly 743 billion dollars in TSP 

participant assets. Mr. Ramos highlighted additional accomplishments of the Converge 

transition and the new features now available to participants, including multiple options 

for secure online access, redesigned My Account page, mobile app, and mutual fund 

window. 

Mr. Ramos next discussed the two main challenges the Agency has 

faced since go-live: participants with problems logging into the new website and long 

wait times at the call center. The vendor has made changes to the login process that 

have resolved the first issue, but those initial login problems, combined with pent up 

demand due to the blackout period during the conversion to Converge and increased 

overall attention due to the market conditions, resulted in very high call volumes. The 

vendor’s staffing projections for the call center were not sufficient to meet the initial 

demand of calls. To address this, the vendor has upstaffed the call center, adding an 

additional 320 agents, which is a 66 percent increase. Despite the additional call center 

staff, wait times and abandonment rates are still higher than normal. The vendor is likely 

to add 100 more agents within the next week and will continue to add staff until they get 

where they need to be. 

Mr. Ramos added that 266,000 beneficiary designations were 

intentionally not transferred over because data quality issues in the old system 

prevented it. However, beneficiary forms for those accounts remain on file and accounts 

will be processed based on those designations. All participants are encouraged to 

review beneficiary information and make updates online. 
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Historical account information was not moved into the new system. Data 

usage rates for historical data were low and costly to include in the new system. 

Additionally, there were security concerns associated with having so much account data 

available online. Participants can view 10 years’ worth of balance history online and can 

request statements and tax forms from the vendor or can obtain balance information 

verbally from the call center. 

In response to a request from Member Bilyeu, Mr. Ramos indicated that 

he and Mr. Deo would arrange for the new recordkeeping vendor, Accenture Federal 

Services (AFS), to make a presentation to the Board regarding lessons learned and 

improvements going forward. Mr. Deo added that he has had multiple conversations 

with the head of AFS to ensure she understands the critical nature of the issues. 

In response to a question from Member Bilyeu, Mr. Courtney explained 

that to better communicate with participants the Agency worked with the vendor to 

ensure the correct messaging is on the website by creating a “known issues” page. The 

web page includes information such as problems with web browsers, account holds, 

and beneficiary designations. The Agency is also preparing to launch a series of 

webinars concerning changes in the plan and technology. In response to another 

question from Member Bilyeu, Mr. Courtney indicated that the Agency is communicating 

directly with payroll providers to inform them of rollout issues, in case they receive 

questions concerning the TSP. 

3. Monthly Reports. 

a. Participant Activity Report 

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

Savings Fund Statistics May 2022” (attached). He reported that the uniformed services 

participation data for May was unavailable due to the transition activity cutoff dates. 

Also, loan and withdrawal transaction volumes were lower in May due to the blackout 

period of the Converge transition. In addition, the blackout and transition to the new 

recordkeeper resulted in reduced withdrawals and the unavailability of certain 

participant data. Mr. Ramos anticipates resuming normal reporting next month. Mr. Deo 

added that the loan volume for June appears higher, which may be partially attributed to 

new features that allow participants to take more loans but is also likely due to pent-up 

demand after the blackout period. 

b. Investment Report 

Mr. McCaffrey reviewed the monthly investment performance report. See 

“May 2022 Performance Review – G, F, C, S, I, and L Funds” (attached). Mr. McCaffrey 

began by noting that for the month of May, BlackRock’s performance for the F Fund 

exceeded the Fixed Income Index returns by seven basis points, primarily due to 

securities lending. Its performance for the C Fund was in line with the Large Cap Index. 

It outperformed the Small Mid Cap Index by eight basis points, primarily due to 
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securities lending. For the I Fund, BlackRock was ahead of the International Index by 

121 basis points, primarily due to fair value pricing. 

Mr. McCaffrey went on to report that State Street Global Advisors’ 

performance for the F and C Funds was in line with the Funds’ respective indices for the 

month. For the S Fund, State Street outperformed the Small Mid Cap Index by six basis 

points, primarily due to securities lending. 

Mr. McCaffrey further reported that, for the month of May, markets were 

mixed as investors weighed persistent inflation against the Federal Reserve’s signaling 

that interest rate hikes would proceed more slowly than some observers expected. The 

C and S Funds fell, and the I and F Funds finished higher. The L Income Fund rose 

slightly, but the other L Funds posted losses. 

Because of the recordkeeping transition, all funds ended their 

performance month on May 26, 2022. As a result, the F, C, S, and I funds were not 

priced on the final two business days of the month because there was a blackout 

applied to participant transactions. However, all invested participant assets were 

managed as usual by the investment managers during those final two days. Because of 

this, there are the normal small differences in performance for the managers relative to 

the indices for the F, C, and S Funds, but a broader divergence for the funds 

themselves when measured against the indices. This divergence will reverse for the 

June performance period, which will include the final two business days of May. 

Mr. McCaffrey reported that year-to-date, BlackRock’s performance for the 

F Fund was ahead of the Fixed Income Index return by 32 basis points, primarily due to 

securities lending. Its performance for the C Fund was in line with the Large Cap Index. 

For the S Fund, BlackRock’s performance exceeded the Small Mid Cap Index return by 

19 basis points, primarily resulting from securities lending. Its performance for the I 

Fund was ahead of the International Index by 34 basis points, primarily due to tax 

advantage. 

Year-to-date, State Street’s performance for the F and C Funds was in line 

with the Funds’ respective indices. For the S Fund, State Street outperformed the Small 

Mid Cap Index by 15 basis points, primarily due to securities lending. 

Mr. McCaffrey noted that, for the current month through Monday, June 27, 

both equity and fixed income funds remain in negative territory. The C Fund has a loss 

of 3.74 percent, the S Fund is down 3.91percent, and the I Fund is down by 6.58 

percent. In fixed income, the F Fund has a loss of 2.92 percent, and the G Fund is 

ahead by 0.26 percent. These numbers include the final two business days of May, as 

previously noted. 

Mr. McCaffrey added that more than half of TSP participants hold some of 

at least one of the L Funds and almost one third of participants have all of their assets in 

the L Funds. Net interfund transfers (IFT) for May into the G Fund from the other funds 
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rose significantly relative to previous months as participants flocked to the greater 

perceived safety of the G Fund. On a percentage basis, IFTs were about 1.6 percent. 

This is lower than the long-term median and indicative of the fact that the vast majority 

of participants left their funds in place. 

c. Legislative Report 

Ms. Weaver began by noting that the House of Representatives and 

Senate are out this week and will return to session July 11. She stated that the Agency 

would continue to monitor the Defense authorization bill for any items that would impact 

blended retirement or the TSP. There are two additional bills of note. First, the No ESG 

at TSP Act prohibits ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) mutual funds from 

being included in the mutual fund window. The Agency will likely oppose this bill 

because it would become nearly impossible to monitor individual mutual funds in the 

mutual fund window, given that there are more than 5,000 mutual funds included. 

Second is the Earn Act, which has a number of provisions that would affect the TSP, 

including requiring catch up contributions to be made as Roth contributions, increasing 

the catch up limit for people between ages 60 and 63, allowing plans to accept an 

employee certification on hardship distributions, increasing the age for required 

minimum distributions up to 75, harmonizing the distribution rules for Roth IRA and Roth 

TSP’s and Roth 401(k)s, and eliminating the distribution requirement for Roth accounts 

in employer plans. 

4. Quarterly Vendor Risk Management Report. 

 Mr. Brandt reported that the Office of Planning and Risk (OPR) provides 

the Executive Director and the Board Members with a synopsis of vendor risk 

assessment for the FRTIB’s key vendors. Mr. Brandt provided a written memo that 

reports the results of the analysis performed by OPR for the first quarter of calendar 

year 2022. See “Vendor Risk Assessment Q1 2022” (attached). 

 In response to a question from Acting Chairperson Jones, Mr. Brandt 

indicated that he would get back to him regarding a list of vendors the Agency is 

currently working with to analyze how many will no longer be active providers as the 

Agency continues to fully implement Converge and the new outsourced recordkeeper. 

5. 2021 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS) Report. 

Ms. Goethe discussed the results of the 2021 FEVS. See “2021 FEVS 

Results” (attached). The FRTIB response rate for 2021 was 65.5 percent, with 175 of 

those who were eligible to take the survey completing it, down from a 74 percent 

response rate in 2020. In 2020, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) modified 

the FEVS to include questions or statements surrounding employees’ perceptions of 

support, communication, and work experience during the pandemic. OPM also allows 

Agencies to include agency specific questions in the FEVS, and the FRTIB included 

eight questions that gauge employee perceptions around the FRTIB core values. 
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Ms. Goethe reported that the performance confidence index for the 

Agency was 91 percent. This pulls from five statements that assess employees’ 

perceptions of their work unit’s ability to achieve goals and produce work at a high level. 

Ms. Goethe added that employee engagement levels remained the same as 2020 at 77 

percent, while global satisfaction decreased by five percent from 72 to 67 percent, with 

decreases occurring mostly in satisfaction with the Agency, job, and recommending the 

Agency as a good place to work. 

Ms. Goethe also reported that one new COVID-19 related question was 

included in the FEVS, which addressed how well Agency leadership provided updates 

about return to the work site. Ninety-three percent of employees agree that they 

received information and updates on return to the workplace. Positive responses to 

other Covid-19 related questions decreased relative to 2020. 

Ms. Goethe added that when asked how well the FRTIB demonstrated 

that it is passionate about delivering services that improve financial outcomes for 

participants, 90 percent of employees responded that the Agency is doing well or very 

well. Ninety percent of employees responded that the Agency listens to, respects, and 

carefully considers the needs of the participants well or very well; 83 percent of 

employees responded that the Agency is trustworthy, down 8 percent from 2020; 77 

percent of employees indicated that the Agency values individuals and organizational 

honesty, consistency, and credibility. For a second year in a row, 87 percent of 

employees responded that the FRTIB operates with independence and acts ethically to 

carry out its fiduciary responsibilities. Seventy-six percent of employees responded that 

the Agency values diversity, with an increase from 17 percent to 24 percent responding 

poor or poorly from 2020. Seventy percent of employees responded that the FRTIB 

encourages open, candid dialog and fosters relationships based on trust and shared 

objectives. And 74 percent of employees responded that the FRTIB builds partnerships 

to achieve greater outcomes. 

Ms. Goethe next reported the results of each of the eight core values 

questions. She concluded by informing the Board that the 2022 FEVS is ongoing, and 

those results will be available in the fall. 

In response to a comment from Acting Chairperson Jones, Ms. Goethe 

agreed with his interpretation of the responses to the COVID-19 questions that the 

Agency communicated extraordinarily clearly with staff throughout the two-plus year 

period, but many employees preferred working full-time from home as opposed to 

coming into the office. 

6. Adjourn. 

 Whereupon, there being no further business, the following motion was 

made, seconded, and adopted without objection and Acting Chairperson Jones 

adjourned the meeting at 11:21 a.m. 
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MOTION: That this meeting be adjourned. 

 

 

 Dharmesh Vashee 

 General Counsel and Secretary 

Attachments 

1. Converge Update 

2. Thrift Savings Fund Statistics May 2022 

3. May 2022 Performance Review – G, F, C, S, I, and L Funds 

4. Vendor Risk Assessment Q1 2022 

5. 2021 FEVS Results