Illinois Administrative Code › Title 80 - PUBLIC OFFICIALS AND EMPLOYEES › Part 1600 - UNIVERSITIES RETIREMENT › Subpart A - GENERAL › Section 1600.150 - Group Trust Provisions

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a) Creation
				and Purpose. A Group Trust is hereby created effective April 1, 1998, pursuant
				to Section 15-177 of the Illinois Pension Code [40 ILCS 5 ].
				The purpose of the Group Trust is to hold and jointly invest the assets of the
				SURS defined benefit plan, the Retirement Savings Plan (formerly the
				"Self-Managed Plan"), and the disability benefit program for Retirement Savings
				Plan participants provided under Section 15-103.3 of the Code (collectively
				"Participating Trusts"), and make appropriate payments pursuant to directions
				from the respective trusts. The Board shall be the trustee of the Group
				Trust.
b) Tax Status. The Group
				Trust is intended to qualify as a group trust under IRC Sections 401(a) and
				501(a), and Revenue Ruling 81-100, as modified by Revenue Rulings 2004-67,
				2011-1 and 2014-24, and all provisions of this Section must be so construed.
				The Group Trust is established within the System and the Board shall generally
				assert that no taxes may be assessed on any income or interest of the Group
				Trust.
c) Exclusive Benefit.
				Notwithstanding anything in this Section to the contrary, no part of the Group
				Trust that equitably belongs to a Participating Trust, other than that portion
				required for reasonable fees, taxes and trust expenses applicable to the
				Participating Trust, may be used or diverted for any purpose other than the
				exclusive benefit of the Participating Trust's participants or their
				beneficiaries who are entitled to benefits under the Participating
				Trust.
d) Nonassignment. No
				Participating Trust may assign or transfer any part of its equity or interest
				in the Group Trust, except in accordance with this Section.
e) Authority of the Board. The Board's
				determination as to whether any investment is within the class or classes of
				property in which the Group Trust may be invested will be conclusive; provided,
				however, that all such decisions must be made in accordance with the then
				current investment policy adopted by the Board and consistent with any
				requirements under Article 1 of the Pension Code. The Board is solely and
				exclusively responsible for, and has exclusive authority and discretion for,
				the management and control of the Group Trust. Subject to the provisions of the
				preceding sentence, the Board may, at its reasonable expense, retain the
				services of such investment or other advisers and consultants as it may deem
				desirable to assist it in carrying out its responsibilities under this
				Section.
f) Trust Accounting. The
				Group Trust will be invested and administered as a common investment fund. The
				equitable interest of each Participating Trust shall be accounted for
				separately in dollar amounts or proportional interest. Consistent with the
				selected accounting method, the Board shall maintain books and records that
				value the interest of each Participating Trust at least monthly.
g) Admission to Participation. Participation
				in the Group Trust is limited to the qualified trusts administered by the Board
				under the SURS defined benefit plan, the Retirement Savings Plan, the
				disability benefit program for Retirement Savings plan participants provided
				under Section 15-103.3 of the Code; pension, profit-sharing and stock bonus
				trusts or custodial accounts qualifying under IRC section 501(a); individual
				retirement accounts that are exempt under IRC section 408(e); eligible
				governmental plan trusts or custodial accounts under IRC section 457(b) that
				are exempt under IRC section 457(g); custodial accounts under IRC section
				403(b)(7); retirement income accounts under IRC section 403(b)(9); and IRC
				section 401(a)(24) governmental plans. Each Participating Trust must adopt the
				terms of this Section by reference in its enabling statute, rules or plan
				document, as the case may be, and transfer all or any part of its assets to the
				Group Trust. This Section shall serve as the adopting instrument under which
				the SURS defined benefit plan and the disability benefit program for Retirement
				Savings Plan participants provided under Section 15-103.3 of the Code shall
				participate in the Group Trust.
h)
				Qualified Status of Participating Trusts. Each Participating Trust must satisfy
				the qualification requirements as a qualified governmental pension plan under
				IRC sections 401(a) and 414(d) or a trust, a custodial account, or similar
				entity that is tax exempt under IRC section 408(e) or IRC section 501(a) (or is
				treated as tax exempt under IRC section 501(a)). A Participating Trust that is
				an IRC section 401(a)(24) governmental plan is treated as meeting this
				requirement if it is not subject to federal income taxation. A Participating
				Trust shall be deemed to satisfy this subsection (h) if it has a current
				determination letter issued by the Internal Revenue Service.
i) Contributions. The Board shall accept
				transfers of assets only from the Participating Trusts and the plan sponsors of
				those Participating Trusts and not from any other person except as permitted by
				law. However, the Board shall also accept cash payments, rollovers, or
				plan-to-plan transfers for a purchase of service credit by a participant of a
				Participating Trust in accordance with the terms of the plan. The Board may
				accept assets in its sole discretion. The value of any non-cash asset shall be
				transferred on the basis of fair market value on the date of contribution and
				consistent with the terms of this Section.
j) Termination of Participating Trust. The
				Board may terminate the participation of a Participating Trust in the Group
				Trust by amending this Section and, in the case of the Retirement Savings Plan,
				amending the plan document. In the event of termination of the participation of
				a Participating Trust, the Board shall distribute to the terminating
				Participating Trust its share of the Group Trust in cash, assets or otherwise
				determined by the Board.
k)
				Termination of Group Trust. The Board may terminate the Group Trust at any time
				by amending this Section. In the event of the termination of the Group Trust,
				the Board shall distribute to each Participating Trust its share of the Group
				Trust in cash, assets or otherwise as determined by the Trustee.
l) Valuation of Assets upon Distribution. In
				all cases, at no time prior to the satisfaction of all liabilities with respect
				to participants and their beneficiaries under any Participating Trust shall
				that part of the corpus or income of the Group Trust that equitably belongs to
				that Participating Trust be used for, or diverted to, purposes other than for
				the exclusive benefit of the participants and their beneficiaries.
m) Allocation and Apportionment of Trust
				Expenses. The Board may pay reasonable trust expenses from the Group Trust if
				these amounts would have been chargeable to the Participating Trusts if
				incurred in their separate administration. For each year, the Board shall
				determine and allocate to each Participating Trust the reasonable and
				quantifiable trust expenses from the previous fiscal year that the Board
				recorded as directly attributable to the Participating Trust. Investment
				manager fees, custodian fees, and other investment-related fees will be
				allocated based on the same proportion as the allocation of net assets to each
				Participating Trust as of the last valuation date. All other remaining expenses
				shall be allocated based on the same proportion as the number of total
				participants of a Participating Trust on the first day of the plan year is to
				the number of total participants of all Participating Trusts on the first day
				of the plan year.
n) Duty of Board.
				For all purposes under this Section, the Board shall discharge its duties under
				this Section with the care, skill, prudence and diligence under the
				circumstances then prevailing that a prudent person acting in a like capacity
				and familiar with such matters would use in the conduct of an enterprise of a
				like character and with like aims.