The president of the PCA’s Retirement and Benefits, Inc. (RBI) reported to the Assembly today that the agency has reduced its 2009 budget by 20 percent, while also reporting an increase in participation in most of its plans over the past year.

“The year 2008 is now thankfully a part of history and will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the most devastating years in terms of financial returns and economic loss,” said Gary Campbell, president of RBI. “However, despite these unprecedented times, RBI’s resources and financial strength are more than sufficient to meet the service needs of our ministry partners.”

Campbell reported that RBI reduced its 2009 budget by 20 percent, saying “we realize every dollar we save on administration stays in your retirement portfolio. This budget reduction is heartily supported by the RBI staff and God has enabled us to find significant reductions while maintaining ongoing service support.”

He also reported that while total net assets under management (retirement, insurance, relief, and operating) decreased due to market conditions, participation in most of the plans increased.

“This growth can be attributed to comparative market performance, inflows of participant contributions, and marketing efforts to new organizations,” said Campbell. “The Retirement Plan ended the year with $223 million in assets and the Life Insurance Plans ended 2009 with more than $410 million in in-force insurance (offered through the fully insured programs).”

Campbell advocated that RBI participants continue to stay with their long-term investment goals, despite the volatility of the market. “Risk matters—we don’t believe that avoiding all risk is an appropriate strategy in managing one’s retirement plan, but targeting appropriate and timely levels of risk in your plan is a strategy every one of our participants should employ.”