COLUMBUS, Ohio � The Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund (OP&F) recently received awards from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for its comprehensive annual financial report, and its popular annual financial report for fiscal year 2002. The awards were presented to OP&F's finance department and communications group respectively and represent reports completed in 2003.

The Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting went to the OP&F comprehensive annual report and represents GFOA's highest form of recognition in the area of public employee retirement system accounting and financial reporting. It is the 15th consecutive year OP&F has received the honor. According to the GFOA, the comprehensive annual financial report was judged by a panel to �demonstrate a constructive spirit of full disclosure to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the report.� GFOA is a nonprofit professional association serving 14,000 government finance professionals in the United States and Canada.

OP&F's 2002 popular annual report received the Award for Outstanding Achievement from GFOA. The award recognizes conformance with the highest standards for preparation of state, local and government popular reports. In order to receive the honor, the recipient must publish a report whose contents conform to standards of creativity, presentation, and reader appeal. It is the third consecutive year OP&F has won this award.

�We publish each of our annual reports to accurately present OP&F's financial story and mission in a logical style,� said William J. Estabrook, OP&F executive director. �These awards are welcome confirmation not only of the strength and stability of our fund, but also the manner in which we present this information.�

Created in 1965 as a result of an act passed by the Ohio General Assembly, OP&F is a multi-employer pension fund serving over 50,000 members. OP&F is one of five statewide retirement systems and provides pension, disability, survivor, and health care benefits to full-time police officers and firefighters in the state of Ohio.

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Contact: Dave Graham (614) 628-8396, dgraham@op-f.org