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Summary Annual Report for the Duke Faculty and Staff Retirement Plan

In compliance with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), Duke is providing all plan participants and beneficiaries with a Summary Annual Report for the Duke University Faculty and Staff Retirement Plan.

You are receiving this notice because you had an account balance in the Duke University Faculty and Staff Retirement Plan or you were eligible to participate in this plan as of December 31, 2017.

This notice contains important information about the plan and your rights under ERISA, which should be read and retained for future reference. Duke reserves the right at any time to change, amend or terminate any benefit plan or program, or the eligibility under the plan.

Joyce Williams
Assistant Vice President, Benefits

This is a summary of the annual report for The Duke University Faculty and Staff Retirement Plan, EIN 56-0532129, Plan No. 001, for period January 01, 2017 through December 31, 2017. The annual report has been filed with the Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, as required under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

Basic Financial Statement

Benefits under the plan are provided by insurance and a trust fund. Plan expenses were $278,474,637. These expenses included $1,599,724 in administrative expenses, $276,865,478 in benefits paid to participants and beneficiaries, and $9,435 in other expenses. A total of 60,975 persons were participants in or beneficiaries of the plan at the end of the plan year, although not all of these persons had yet earned the right to receive benefits.

The value of plan assets, after subtracting liabilities of the plan, was $6,084,122,729 as of December 31, 2017, compared to $5,184,025,416 as of January 01, 2017. During the plan year the plan experienced an increase in its net assets of $900,097,313. This increase includes unrealized appreciation and depreciation in the value of plan assets; that is, the difference between the value of the plan's assets at the end of the year and the value of the assets at the beginning of the year or the cost of assets acquired during the year. The plan had total income of $1,178,571,950, including employer contributions of $158,083,837, employee contributions of $141,666,204, other contributions of $40,736,855, and earnings from investments of $838,085,054.

Your Rights To Additional Information

You have the right to receive a copy of the full annual report, or any part thereof, on request. The items listed below are included in that report:

  • An accountant's report;
  • Financial information;
  • Information on payments to service providers;
  • Assets held for investment;
  • Insurance information, including sales commissions paid by insurance carriers;
  • Information regarding any common or collective trusts, pooled separate accounts, master trusts or 103-12 investment entities in which the plan participates;

To obtain a copy of the full annual report, or any part thereof, write or call the office of Duke University in care of Joyce T. Williams who is the Plan Administrator at 705 Broad Street, Box 90502, Durham, NC 27708, or by telephone at (919) 684-5600. The charge to cover copying costs will be $0.25 per page.

You also have the right to receive from the plan administrator, on request and at no charge, a statement of the assets and liabilities of the plan and accompanying notes, or a statement of income and expenses of the plan and accompanying notes, or both. If you request a copy of the full annual report from the plan administrator, these two statements and accompanying notes will be included as part of that report. The charge to cover copying costs given above does not include a charge for the copying of these portions of the report because these portions are furnished without charge.

You also have the legally protected right to examine the annual report at the main office of the plan ( Duke University, 705 Broad Street, Box 90502, Durham, NC 27708) and at the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C., or to obtain a copy from the U.S. Department of Labor upon payment of copying costs. Requests to the Department should be addressed to: Public Disclosure Room, Room N1513, Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20210.

Benefits