On behalf of the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System, I would like to cordially invite you to attend the 68th Annual Southern Conference on Teacher Retirement. The event will be held May 20-23, 2012 at the Hilton Downtown in Nashville. I know this conference will present lots of opportunities for networking and good exchanges of ideas at a time of transition for public pension plans.

During the last couple of years, pension plans across the country have been considering changes in benefits, changes in eligibility, even changes in the fundamental structure of their plans. Tennessee is certainly no exception to this trend. We are committed to finding the right balance between financial stability for our plan and fair benefits for our state's hard-working teachers and other public employees.

Change may be inevitable, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. We have a real opportunity now to shape the way our pension plans will operate for many decades into the future. If we do our jobs right, future generations may look back on the work we do over the next few years and thank us. I am very excited to be part of a public pension system during this time frame -- and I hope you are, too!

I hope you will come to our conference and return home with ideas that can help you manage your pension system more effectively. And of course, while you are here, we will show you the sort of Southern hospitality that our members expect.

Hope to see you then!

Sincerely,

Jill Bachus, Director, Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System