Alaska Teachers' Retirement System Tiers I and II
| Alaska Teachers' Retirement System Tiers I and II (TRS) | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Juneau, Alaska |
| Top official: | Bob Williams, chair |
| Year founded: | 1955 |
| Active members: | 3,023 |
| Website: | Official website |
| Total assets under management | |
| 2022: | $6,026,651,000 |
- See also: Public pensions in Alaska
The Teachers' Retirement System Tiers I and II (TRS) is a Alaska state pension fund that provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to the state's public education employees employed before July 1, 2006. TRS had $6,026,651,000 ($6 billion) in total assets under management as of June 30, 2022.[1]
The management of public pension funds can indicate support or opposition to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investment practices. ESG investing considers the extent to which corporations align with and promote certain non-financial standards, such as net carbon emission or corporate board diversity goals. States typically hire asset management companies (AMCs) to direct pension plan investments, some of which have ESG commitments that guide their strategies.
This article features the following sections:
- Background: Information about the structure and functions of TRS.
- Pension performance overview: Overview of the funding level and assets managed by TRS.
- Assets and asset management: Information about the asset management companies (AMCs) that contract with TRS, including a list of contracting AMCs that are participants in the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative and the Climate Action 100+ initiative.
- Governance and accountability: Details about TRS's oversight board, including members and selection.
Background
- See also: Public pensions
The Teachers' Retirement System Tiers I and II (TRS), founded in 1955, invests the assets of and provides funding for the state's public education employees employed before July 1, 2006. It operates as a defined benefit plan.[2][3]
TRS served over 3,023 active members and approximately 14,126 retirees and beneficiaries as of June 30, 2022.[2][1]
Pension performance overview
The following table features information about the funding level and assets managed by the Teachers' Retirement System Tiers I and II as of June 30, 2022:[1]
| Teachers' Retirement System Tiers I and II pension performance (June 30, 2022) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal year | Percent funded | Unfunded liabilities | Total assets[4] |
| 2022 | 78.2% | $1,703,842,000 | $6,026,651,000 |
Assets and asset management
| Environmental, social, and corporate governance |
|---|
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| • What is ESG? • Enacted ESG legislation • Arguments for and against ESG • Opposition to ESG • Federal ESG rules • ESG legislation tracker • Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's weekly ESG newsletter |
Asset management companies (AMCs) are hired to manage asset investment for state pension funds across all 50 states.
As of October 2024, 330 AMCs were members of the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative (NZAM), and 391 AMCs were investor participants in the Climate Action 100+ initiative. Both international asset manager initiatives aimed to align the investment decisions of signatories with the goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.[5][6]
NZAM announced on January 13, 2025, that it was suspending operations and removing the commitment statement and list of signatories from its website. The group said in a statement it would reevaluate its plans and operations in light of “[r]ecent developments in the U.S. and different regulatory and client expectations in investors’ respective jurisdictions.”[7]
List of AMCs contracting with the Teachers' Retirement System Tiers I and II
The Teachers' Retirement System Tiers I and II (TRS) is a sub-fund within the Alaska Division of Retirement and Benefits (DRB). DRB administers TRS, among other retirement and benefit plans for the public employees of Alaska. TRS does not contract with its own AMCs; the AMCs contracting with DRB account for all the pension plans it administers.[8]
DRB contracted with 97 asset management companies (AMCs) or specific funds as of 2021. Of those companies, 14 were investor participants in Climate Action 100+, and 19 were members of NZAM, as of 2024. The following list identifies the AMCs (and in some cases, the specific funds) contracting with DRB:[9]
- Abbott Capital
- Actively Managed ARMB Domestic Residual Assets
- Advent International GPE Fund IX
- Advent International GPE Fund VIII-B
- Almanac Realty Securities IX
- Almanac Realty Securities V
- Almanac Realty Securities VII
- Almanac Realty Securities VIII
- ARMB Barclays Agg Bond Fund
- ARMB Int'l Residual Assets
- ARMB Large Cap Multi-Factor
- ARMB REIT
- ARMB S&P 600
- ARMB S&P 900
- ARMB Scientific Beta
- Arrow Street Capital
- Baillie Gifford Overseas Limited (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- BlackRock (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- BlackRock US Core Property Fund (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- Brandes and Baillie Gifford AK International Equity Fund
- Brandes Investment Partners
- Cap Guardian Trust Co
- Clarion Ventures 4
- Clearlake Capital Partners VI
- Clearlake Capital Partners VII
- Colony Investors VIII, L.P.
- Crestline Investors, Inc.
- Crestline Specialty Fund
- Crestline Specialty Lending Fund II
- Crestline Specialty Lending Fund III
- Dyal Capital Partners III
- Dyal Capital Partners IV
- EIG Energy Fund XIV-A
- EIG Energy Fund XV
- EIG Energy Fund XVI
- Fidelity Inst. Asset Mgmt. High Yield CMBS
- Fidelity Institutional Asset Management
- Fidelity Signals
- Genstar X
- Glendon Opportunities
- Glendon Opportunities II
- IFM Global Infrastructure Fund-Private (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- ING Clarion Development Ventures III
- Insight XII (Climate Action 100+)
- JP Morgan (NZAM)
- JP Morgan (NZAM)
- JP Morgan Infrastructure Fund-Private (NZAM)
- KKR Lending Partners II
- KKR Real Estate Partners Americas II
- KKR Real Estate Partners Americas III
- KKR Real Estate Partners Americas L.P.
- Legal & General (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- Legal & General Sci-Beta Emerging Markets (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- Lexington Capital Partners VIII
- Lexington Partners VII
- MacKay Shields, LLC
- Man Group Alternative Risk Premia (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- McKinley Global Health Care
- Merit Capital Partners
- MSCI Emerging Markets Index Fund
- NB SOF III
- NB SOF IV
- Neuberger Berman Secondary Opportunities Fund V (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- New Mountain Partners IV
- New Mountain Partners V
- New Mountain Partners VI
- NGP XI
- NGP XII
- Northern Trust Environmental, Social, and Governance Fund (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- Onex Partnership III
- Pathway Capital Management LLC
- PineBridge (NZAM)
- Prisma Capital Partners
- Project Pearl
- Resolute Fund III
- Resolute Fund IV
- Resolute Fund V
- Schroders Insurance Linked Securities (Climate Action 100+)
- Sentinel Separate Account
- Silverpeak Legacy Pension Partners II, L.P.
- Silverpeak Legacy Pension Partners III, L.P.
- SSgA MSCI World Ex-US IMI Index Fund
- State Street Global Advisors (NZAM)
- State Street Global Advisors (NZAM)
- Summit Partners GE IX
- Summit Partners GE X
- T. Rowe Price (NZAM)
- Timberland Invt Resource LLC
- Tishman Speyer Real Estate Venture VI
- Tishman Speyer Real Estate Venture VII
- UBS Farmland Investors LLC (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- UBS Realty (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- UBS Trumbull Property Fund (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- Warburg Pincus Global Growth Fund
- Warburg Pincus X
- Warburg Pincus XI
- Warburg Pincus XII
Governance and accountability
This section features information about the nine-member board of trustees that oversees the Teachers' Retirement System Tiers I and II (TRS). The board is not specific to oversight of TRS and exercises oversight duties for other state funds.[10]
Board selection method
The board of trustees that oversees TRS is made up of nine members. The board is composed of the commissioner of administration, the commissioner of revenue, two members of the general public, one financial officer who participates in either the TRS or Alaska Public Employees’ Retirement System (PERS), two members of PERS, and two members of TRS.[10]
Board of trustees membership
A nine-member board of trustees oversees the operation and administration of TRS. The following individuals served on the board as of June 2024:[10]
- Bob Williams, chair
- vacant, vice chair
- Lorne Bretz
- Donald Krohn
- Dennis Moen
- Sandra K. Ryan
- Paula Vrana
- Michael Williams
- Adam Crum
See also
- Public pensions in Alaska
- Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- Arguments about environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- Opposition to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investing
- Reform proposals related to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- State legislative approaches opposing ESG investing
- State legislative approaches supporting ESG investing
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 ‘’Alaska Department of Administration, Division of Retirement and Benefits,’’ “Teachers’ Retirement System June 2023 Actuarial Valuation Report As of June 30, 2022,” June 4, 2024
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 ‘’Alaska Department of Administration, Division of Retirement and Benefits,’’ “PERS & TRS Defined Benefit Retirement Plan,” June 4, 2024
- ↑ ‘’Alaska Legislature,’’ “LFD Informational Paper 21-2: Alaska’s Public Retirement Systems,” June 4, 2024
- ↑ Note: By default, this refers to the actuarial valuation of total assets. In some cases, the total market value of assets is shown instead. See the cited source for details.
- ↑ The Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, "The Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative," accessed January 26, 2023
- ↑ Climate Action 100+, "The Three Goals," accessed June 20, 2023
- ↑ Pensions and Investments, "Net Zero Asset Managers initiative to suspend activities in wake of BlackRock departure," accessed January 15, 2024
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedBP - ↑ Ballotpedia, "Ballotpedia: Asset management data for state-administered pension funds across the 50 states," March 2023
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 ‘’Alaska Department of Administration, Division of Retirement and Benefits,’’ ‘’Board of Trustees,” June 4, 2024
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