Dear Participants, Retirees and Beneficiaries,

As the COVID-19 situation unfolds, we wanted to provide you with an update on the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund’s (UNJSPF) situation, to address your concerns about its possible impact on your current and future pensions.

Following the United Nations Secretary-General’s guidance and local authorities’ directives, the Fund’s staff have been working from home for more than two weeks now and the crisis management teams are in place to ensure smooth business continuity. The financial markets volatility this year, triggered by the global health pandemic, has impacted the Fund’s assets. However, we entered the year after a positive performance in 2019, even though there was a downturn observed in the first quarter of 2020. A more detailed update on the Fund’s assets will be shared with you promptly after the preliminary results from the first quarter 2020 become available.

Let us assure you that pensions will continue to be paid. The Fund has sufficient liquidity to cover the payments and we do not foresee any disruption for beneficiaries who receive their monthly benefits through electronic funds transfer, as these benefits are transmitted through the banking systems. Although we have had to close our walk-in services, calls into our call centers and emails are answered as usual.

Please be reassured that we are closely monitoring the situation and taking all measures to protect your pensions together.

Rosemarie McClean is the Chief Executive of Pension Administration and Pedro Guazo is the Representative of the Secretary-General for the investments of the UNJSPF assets.