The PERA Board of Trustees held its annual Planning Session September 18 to 20 in Colorado Springs.
Over the course of three days, Trustees participated in informational meetings, workshops, and took action on a number of important items, some of which are summarized below.
Strategic planning
An important part of the Board’s duties is laying out PERA’s strategic direction and priorities, and the Trustees have spent several meetings working on the organization’s next strategic plan.
During the most recent meeting, the Board reviewed the results of surveys sent to various stakeholders, including members, retirees, and employers. Through those surveys, the Trustees were able to identify some of PERA’s top strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, which will help lay out the organization’s goals for the next several years.
The Board expects to have a plan draft ready for Trustee review in January.
CEM Benchmarking report
Each year, the PERA Board receives a report from CEM Benchmarking that rates PERA on the various services it provides to members and the cost of providing those services, as well as comparing PERA to other similar public pensions.
This year’s CEM report gave PERA a service score of 85 compared to the peer average of 81. PERA earned particularly high scores on factors such as the average time a member spends waiting on the phone to talk to a customer service representative, the features and functionality of the secure online member portal, and participation in member education webinars.
CEM found PERA’s administrative costs amount to $58 per member, below the peer average of $67. Overall, the CEM report found PERA provides a higher level of service at a lower cost than the average public pension plan.
Pension Review Subcommittee’s review of assumptions
Every three years, the State Legislature’s Pension Review Subcommittee is tasked with commissioning a report from an independent firm that is meant to evaluate the various assumptions PERA uses to forecast its financial health, as well as determining whether PERA is on track to meet its goal of full funding and a handful of other assessments.
The Subcommittee began that process in January and chose Switzerland-based PNYX Group to conduct the analysis. PNYX then presented its findings and recommendations in July.
Using its own models and projections, PNYX opined that some of PERA’s key assumptions should be adjusted based on their own assumptions and methodologies, and stated the fund could be facing a significant shortfall in future years as a result. Therefore, PNYX recommended a handful of policy options, primarily related to increasing contributions—including $2 billion from the State—in order to improve the fund’s position. Members of the Pension Review Subcommittee and Pension Review Commission expressed doubts about the feasibility of such changes.
In discussing with the Board, PERA staff and the board’s consultants presented on some of the methods and findings of the report, and highlighted their own confidence in the assumptions, methodologies, and models that form the basis of their own recommendations to the PERA Board. Additionally, the review missed key elements that would have made the report more comprehensive and on point, they said. For example, the Board just concluded a study of PERA’s strategic asset allocation and is beginning a study comparing actual experience over the past four years to actuaries’ projections, both of which could help address some of the findings of the PNYX report.
PERA staff, along with the PERA Board’s actuarial and investment consultants, presented a formal response to the PNYX report on September 23 and may also address the report and its findings with the Pension Review Commission on September 27.
Asset/liability study
The Board concluded its yearlong asset/liability study and adopted new long-term asset allocation targets for the PERA Defined Benefit Plan portfolio. The changes aim to add diversification to the portfolio over time and enhance the potential for future returns.
READ MORE: PERA Board Adopts New Strategic Asset Allocation Following Study
2025 Board meeting dates
Finally, Trustees wrapped up the September Planning Session by approving the calendar for 2025 Board meetings, choosing the following five dates:
- January 17
- March 14
- June 27
- September 17-19 (Planning Session)
- November 21
PERA Board meetings are streamed live on copera.org and include time for public comment. In response to a recommendation from the Pension Review Commission, meeting recordings will be available online following the Board’s November 15, 2024 meeting.
