2019 annual report of APS submitted before November 1 deadline

Cayhill, Sint Maarten, 02 July 2020: The General Pension Fund of Sint Maarten (APS) submitted its 2019 annual report on June 29, 2020, four months ahead of the legally declared annual deadline of November 1. The 2019 annual report was submitted to the Minister of Finance of Sint Maarten, the Central Bank of Curacao and Sint Maarten and the General Audit Chamber. With this early submission, APS can ensure a more accurate and efficient current year reporting and further planning and budgeting. This also allows APS to further accelerate the cycle of internal control improvements and streamlining of its processes. APS has been working the past years on early submittal by streamlining the internal processes. This is the second year of early submittal of the annual report by APS. “APS is very proud of this accomplishment as we pride ourselves on being a professional entity that adheres to the legal regulations imposed on us, which includes, meeting our deadlines. APS will continue to make strides to improve on a consistent basis, having identified these areas in our Strategic Agenda, ensuring that the pension scheme will be financially sustainable, now and in the future.” stated APS Director Nadya Croes-van Putten The 2019 annual report highlights several key aspects that show the performance of the Fund over the fiscal year. Most importantly being the funding ratio. Annually, APS aims to achieve a minimum coverage ratio of 100% and a target of 105%. For the year-end 2019, APS achieved a coverage ratio of 103.81%. This was achieved by gaining significant positive return on APS investments of 9.54% in 2019. Other contributing factors were an increase in collections, resolution of overdue receivables and improvement in the accuracy of the pension administration. According to APS Director Croes-van Putten, “This favorable coverage ratio shows an increase by 6.24% in comparison to 2018. This is the highest year-end funding ratio since the Fund’s inception and it means that APS can cover all its financial obligations. Despite the strain the COVID19 crisis has put on our fund we continue to weather the storm. The preliminary May 2020 funding ratio was already at 101.10%. And further growth is expected in June 2020.” The completed 2019 annual report can be found on the APS website www.apsxm.org, under Annual Reports in the Downloads section.