Andrew Saul

Who is Andrew Saul?

Andrew Marshall Saul is an American millionaire businessman from Katonah, New York who serves as the Chairman of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board and Vice Chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City, United States. Saul has been a General Partner in the investment firm Saul Partners, L.P., since 1986.

As Chairman of the Thrift Investment Board, he is responsible for overseeing the Thrift Savings Plan which is the retirement savings account for employees of the Federal Government and soldiers of the armed services. The TSP is known to reap higher returns for their retirement than comparable private-sector workers, and is immune from many of the problems that plague mutual funds. During Saul's tenure, the TSP was grown to over $200 billion in assets by 2007, making it twice as large as when he began in 2003. He also cut operating expenses by over $20 million. The TSP is the largest defined contribution plan in the world with over 3.7 million participants and assets worth over $210 billion. The plan is expected to grow to at least $300 billion by 2010.

His largest accomplishment with the Thrift Savings Board was to eliminate open enrollment periods, which allows eligible participants to enroll year-round, and the launch of lifecycle funds, which automatically allocate investments to minimize risk as a federal employee nears retirement. During monthly FRTIB board meetings, Saul pushed for improvements in technology and customer service, and was instrumental in having the board hire an outside auditor to review TSP financial statements and bring any concerns directly to the board rather than to TSP staff. He is required by law to be independent and act in the best interests of plan participants. As chairman, Saul has urged the board to send a signal to Congress that the Thrift Savings Plan cannot be drawn into social or political debates, even for good causes. He also opposes so-called "terror-free" investments which would divest the plan from holdings in any government designated by the State Department as a terrorist-sponsoring state, or in businesses with substantial investments in those nations. He is a major advocate for ensuring that its computer systems and offerings keep pace with the program's expanding size.