Pritzker names Chirico to Illinois Firefighters Pension Investment Fund Transition Board

Steve Chirico, the mayor of Naperville, has been named by JB Pritzker, the governor of Illinois, to serve on the nine-member board of the Illinois Firefighters Pension Investment Fund (IFPIF) Transition Board. Mayor Chirico’s appointment took effect on Jan 31. Pritzker signed a bill into law in December 2019 related to the conversion of 640 pension funds into two funds.

The bill stated that the 640 suburban and downstate police and fire pension funds would be consolidated to the two newly created investment funds. The consolidation process was decided to be overseen by two newly created investment boards including the Police Officer’s Pension Investment Fund and the IFPIF. According to the officials, the IFPIF will get control of almost $6.3 billion in investment assets.

The consolidation of the smaller funds into larger statewide funds is expected to improve the returns on investment. The investment fund experts said that the consolidation would result in much higher returns. The Illinois Municipal League (IML) released the expected investment returns of these two newly created investment funds. The IML said that the consolidated funds would earn more than $1 million in returns per day.

The experts said that the consolidated funds would generate $820 million to $2.5 billion in the first five years. The expectation are higher for investment returns, according to the experts. Mayor Chirico said, “It is a privilege to be appointed to this transition board and help put into action the pension relief this legislation set into motion.”

Chirico is also serving as president of the DuPage Mayors & Managers Conference. Mayor Chirico, Patrick Nichting, the treasurer of the City of Peoria, and Jeff Rowitz, the CFO of the Village of Northbrook, will represent the municipalities and fire protection district on the board. The trustees of the permanent board are expected to be elected by the end of 2020. The transition board will serve until then.