June 29, 2001
Retailers Fund workers' compensation
program
pays $1.1 million in dividends this year
Retailers Fund, the workers' compensation insurance program of the Michigan Retailers Association (MRA), will make its second dividend payment of the year on July 6, bringing the total dividend to more than $1.1 million for 2001.
The fund surplus declared by the Board of Trustees at its April 10 meeting allows for a payment of $732,000 in dividends to Retailers Fund members -- one of the largest amounts ever.
The July dividend payment is based on the Fund's surplus reserves and has been approved by the state Bureau of Workers' Disability Compensation. It comes in addition to the $372,800 interest-earnings dividend already paid in April and an 8.75-percent up-front premium discount.
Retailers Fund was founded in 1981 and has paid dividends every year since 1982. More than $16 million in dividends has been returned to members over the lifetime of the Fund.
"Because Retailers Fund is owned and managed by retailers, retailers reap the benefits of sound operations," said Fund Administrator James P. Hallan, MRA's president and chief operating officer. "The good safety record of participants and active claims review by the Board of Trustees have helped keep expenses low, meaning that a significant portion of premiums can be returned to members as dividends."
The Michigan Retailers Association is the unified voice of retailing in Michigan and the nation's largest state trade association of general merchandise retailers. MRA's more than 5,500 retail business members operate more than 12,000 stores across the state.
