I Fund Benchmark Evaluation

Independent advice for the institutional investor FINAL I Fund Benchmark Evaluation for the Federal Thrift Savings Plan I FUND BENCHMARK EVALUATION (This page left blank intentionally) TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Executive Summary 2 Non-U.S. Equity Benchmark Review 3 Implementation of a Daily-Valued MSCI ACW ex-U.S. Index Fund (This page left blank intentionally) ƒƒƒEXECUTIVE SUMMARY Executive Summary The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (FRTIB) requested that Ennis Knupp & Associates (EnnisKnupp) evaluate the appropriateness of changing the benchmark of the International Stock Index Investment Fund (I Fund) offered within the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). The I Fund’s existing benchmark is the MSCI EAFE Index, which provides exposure to 21 developed non-U.S. equity markets across Europe, Australasia, and the Far East. In this report, we review the appropriateness of changing the I Fund’s benchmark to the MSCI All-Country World (ACW) ex-U.S. Index. The MSCI ACW ex-U.S. Index provides broader and more diversified coverage of the non-U.S. equity markets as it includes exposure to the emerging markets and Canada, in addition to the countries that are in the MSCI EAFE Index. In evaluating the appropriateness of making a change to the I Fund’s mandate, we took into consideration: The criteria set ...