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THRIFT SAVINGS PLAN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR RESIGNS TO ACCEPT NEW POSITION; THRIFT BOARD CHAIRMAN LAUDS AMELIO'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS, ANNOUNCES SEARCH FOR NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

     Washington, D.C. (January 24, 2007) — Gary A. Amelio, Executive Director of the Thrift Savings Plan for Federal employees, is resigning from the position he has held for 3½ years to accept a post as President of the Retirement Services business unit of ULLICO, Inc. The ULLICO family of companies has offered insurance and investment products since 1927.

     In accepting Amelio’s resignation, Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board Chairman Andrew M. Saul expressed the Board’s gratitude for his successful work during his tenure at the TSP, and well wishes for success in his future endeavors. “When I became Chairman four years ago, it was clear that the TSP was on the cusp of many of the most significant changes in its history,” Saul stated. “The Board members and I knew that Gary’s private sector retirement services experience was just the right recipe for leading the already successful TSP to the next level. We were not disappointed.”

    Amelio arrived at the Board in June 2003, just as a long-delayed state of the art daily-valued record keeping system was being deployed. He took charge in the midst of six weeks of transitional difficulties, and never looked back. Shortly after stabilizing the new record keeping system, he announced and implemented substantial changes to the TSP loan program to correct problems identified during the transition, and bring the program in line with private sector practices. This action was followed in quick succession by the introduction of a new back-up computer facility, dual call-center operations, Web-based transactional capacity, and toll-free telephone service. All of these improvements were introduced at the same time costs to participants were being reduced.

    In late 2005, Amelio launched his signature Lifecycle (L) funds, which are already being used by nearly half-a-million TSP participants. He oversaw the development of requests-for-proposals and contractor competitions for all major TSP service procurements, and in the past two months received reports from private sector experts endorsing the Plan fiduciaries’ investment policies and confirming that TSP participants have a high level of satisfaction with the TSP.

    According to Saul, the latter speaks volumes. “Respondents to our recent survey reported a very high level of satisfaction, with the TSP showing an 85 percent favorable rating, compared to the 68 percent of private sector participants who indicate a favorable rating on their 401(k) plan. The major improvements implemented during Gary’s tenure have helped lift participant satisfaction to this exceptionally high level.”

    Amelio likened his tenure at the TSP to taking charge of a global enterprise on the eve of major change. “Twenty years ago, the Congress did an outstanding job of creating the TSP on three sound fundamental principles: limited, broad-based investment choices, easy to understand structure, and low costs. Hewing to these sound principles, we rapidly introduced the extraordinarily successful asset allocation feature of the L Funds, allowed for simplified Web-based transactions, and drove costs to the rock-bottom rate of 30 cents per thousand dollars of account balance. What was a great plan is now the best plan in the nation.”

    The TSP is a retirement savings plan for Federal employees and members of the uniformed services. It is similar to the 401(k) plans offered by many private employers.  It was created by the Federal Employees' Retirement System Act of 1986.  As of December 31, 2006, TSP assets totaled approximately $206 billion, and retirement savings accounts have been established for more than 3.7 million participants.

    The executive search firm of Heidrick & Struggles has been retained to conduct a search for Amelio’s successor. A vacancy announcement will be posted on the Board’s business Web site (www.frtib.gov) and on the site maintained by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (www.opm.gov).

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