Cul de Sac, St. Maarten — Franklyn Richards will remain chairman of the board of APS for another two years. This after his being reappointed as such, in accordance with advice of the Minister of Finance and the board of the general pension fund. As such, the Governor of Sint Maarten has reappointed Richards as independent chairman of the board of APS.
The APS board is pleased with this reappointment, which recognizes the chairman’s continued leadership in carrying out the fund’s strategy of pension reform, innovation and local investments in support of the development of Sint Maarten.
A highly respected member of the St. Maarten community, Richards is a former Lt. Governor of the island territory of Sint Maarten and has held several senior management and supervisory positions in both the public and private sectors.
APS, which manages pensions for about 2,600 active participants, over 1,000 pensioners and 700 deferred participants, was established in 2010, with Richards appointed as its independent chairman in 2012.
In the absence of the chairman, the board is chaired by Guilliano Saturnilia. The latter was appointed as vice-chairman of the board as of September 2017. Saturnilia is a member of the APS board nominated by the Civil Service Consultative Committee (GOA).
APS board adapts to changes in the social economic situation of St. Maarten
APS is appreciative of the high regard the pension fund enjoys among all its stakeholders. These are the representatives of employers and employees, supervisory authorities and the government.
As St. Maarten’s general pension fund administrator, APS continues a path of providing top notch customer and employer services while supporting the implementation of the pension reform in co-operation with the government. The board has recently, after the devastation of hurricane Irma decided to accelerate their ongoing housing development projects. The fund is committed to undertaking new projects to relieve the housing shortage on Sint Maarten through investments in affordable quality homes.
APS role in rebuilding the country
“Our mission is first and foremost to provide adequate financial security to our participants and their families”, says Richards, as chairman of the board of APS.
“We have to invest the contributions that employers and participants entrust to us profitably and at acceptable risks to accomplish this mission. At the same time, we realize that we have a role to play in supporting the local economy through our investments. APS can demonstrate its strong commitment to Sint Maarten and its citizens by playing an active role in rebuilding the island after the hurricane.”
The appointments of Richards and Saturnilia guarantees that APS has a secured strong leadership to successfully address the future challenges for retirement provision on Sint Maarten.
