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Confidential — for Internal Use Only
Associate Handbook August 2016 |
8
ABOUT ICMA‑RC
History of ICMA‑RC
In 1972, a group of local government employees recognized that existing retirement plans did not address the
special needs of the public sector. Specifically, the prevailing defined benefit plans were not nationally portable
or transferable. Government workers who moved to a job in a different jurisdiction or who left the public
sector often forfeited their future retirement security because of strict vesting requirements. Furthermore, most
plans provided few special services and were so inflexible that early withdrawals or special payout schedules
were not allowed or resulted in substantial penalties.
With assistance from the Ford Foundation, the International City/County Management Association (“ICMA”),
a professional non-profit association for appointed local government administrators, created ICMA Retirement
Corporation (“ICMA‑RC”) to specifically address the special retirement plan needs of local and state governments.
With its creation, ICMA‑RC became one of the first organizations to offer nationally available 457 deferred
compensation retirement plans designed specifically to meet the needs of local and state government employees.
Today, ICMA‑RC is a leader in the public sector retirement plan industry. Through its comprehensive
education program and full array of investment options, the corporation promotes long-term retirement
savings among its participants.
Product Expansion
In 1984, ICMA‑RC added 401(a) money purchase plans and 401(k) salary reduction (profit-sharing) plans
for public employees. In recent years, we have continued to add a wide variety of products to serve the various
retirement planning needs of public employees, including our VantageCare Retirement Health Savings
(“RHS”) Plan, VantageCare RHS Employer Investment Program (“EIP”), the Guided Pathways® investment
advisory services suite, our target-date Milestone Funds, and the VantageTrust Retirement Income Advantage
Fund lifetime income investment option.