Investment Basics - SBI Investments and Reading Your SBI Statement
Relief associations have authority to transfer special fund assets to the State Board of Investment (SBI) for investment in the Minnesota Supplemental Investment Fund. The Minnesota Supplemental Investment Fund (SIF) was established by the legislature to provide an investment vehicle for various public retirement plans, including fire relief associations. It is not the intent of the SBI to advise relief associations regarding their choice among investment accounts. Relief associations may wish to consult an investment advisor for guidance. There are six investment accounts, or investment options, within the Supplemental Investment Fund that are available for relief association investment:
- Balanced Fund – a balanced portfolio utilizing both common stocks and bonds
- Bond Fund – an actively managed, bond portfolio
- Broad International Equity Fund – a portfolio of non-U.S. stocks that incorporates both active and passive management
- Money Market Fund – a portfolio utilizing short-term, liquid debt securities
- U.S. Equity Actively Managed Fund – an actively managed, U.S. common stock portfolio
- U.S. Equity Index Fund – a passively managed, common stock portfolio
Fact sheets with information regarding the investment options are also available on the SBI’s website. Investments in the Minnesota Supplemental Investment Fund must conform to the statutory limitations governing a relief association’s asset allocation. For example, relief associations may invest up to 85 percent of their special fund portfolio in a combination of all corporate stock and “other investments.” This limit applies to all stock investments, including those through mutual funds, exchange traded funds, and the SBI Supplemental Investment Fund.
Investment Transfer Verifiers
Trustees of relief associations that invest in the Supplemental Investment Fund should make sure that transfer verifiers are on file with the SBI. A verifier is an officer of the relief association whom the financial institution or SBI will contact to confirm the account number to which the money should be transferred when it receives a wire transfer request. Having a designated individual who will be the contact person to confirm transfer requests is a good internal control and helps to protect pension assets.
Reading Your SBI Statement
A sample SBI statement is shown below that contains notes and descriptions. We hope that the annotated statement will make reading SBI account statements easier and highlight important information, such as rates of return and benchmarks.
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Additional Resources
More information can be found in our Pension Investment Basic Series found in the Investment Basics Topic.
Additional information is provided for in a Statement of Position on Relief Association Investment Authority and in another Statement of Position on Relief Association Investment Policies.
Last Updated May 2024