Idaho Judges' Retirement Fund
| Idaho Judges’ Retirement Fund | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Boise, Idaho |
| Top official: | Jeff Cilek, chairman |
| Year founded: | 1963 |
| Active members: | 56 |
| Website: | Official website |
| Total assets under management | |
| 2023: | $111,017,104 |
- See also: Public pensions in Idaho
The Idaho Judges' Retirement Fund (JRF) is a Idaho state pension fund that provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to the state's supreme court justices, courts of appeal judges, and district judges. It is a sub-fund within the Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho. JRF had $111,017,104 ($111 million) in total assets under management as of June 30, 2023.[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 JRF.
- Pension performance overview: Overview of the funding level and assets managed by JRF.
- Assets and asset management: Information about the asset management companies (AMCs) that contract with JRF, 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 JRF's oversight board, including members and selection.
Background
- See also: Public pensions
The Idaho Judges' Retirement Fund (JRF), founded in 1963, invests the assets of and provides funding for the state’s supreme court justices, courts of appeal judges, and district judges. JRF operates as a defined benefit plan.[2][1]
JRF served over 56 active members and approximately 115 retirees and beneficiaries as of June 30, 2023.[1]
Pension performance overview
The following table features information about the funding level and assets managed by the Idaho Judges' Retirement Fund as of June 30, 2023:[1]
| Idaho Judges' Retirement Fund pension performance (June 30, 2023) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal year | Percent funded | Unfunded liabilities | Total assets[3] |
| 2023 | 84.1% | $20,982,404 | $111,017,104 |
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.[4][5]
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.”[6]
List of AMCs contracting with the Idaho Judges' Retirement Fund
The Idaho Judges' Retirement Fund (JRF) is a sub-fund within the Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho (PERSI). PERSI administers JRF, among other retirement and benefit plans for the public employees of Idaho. JRF does not contract with its own AMCs; the AMCs contracting with PERSI account for all the pension plans it administers.
The Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho (PERSI) contracted with 60 asset management companies (AMCs) or specific funds as of June 30, 2020. Of those companies, eight were investor participants in Climate Action 100+, and three were members of NZAM, as of 2024. The following list identifies the AMCs (and in some cases, the specific funds) contracting with PERSI:[7]
- Adelante Capital Management
- Advent International, LP
- Apollo Management, LP
- Ascribe Capital LLC
- Baring Asset Management-Global Equity
- Bernstein-Emerging Markets
- Bernstein-Global Equity
- Blackstone Capital Partners, LP
- BLS Capital
- Brandes Investment Partners
- Bridgepoint Cap LTD
- Capital Guardian
- Cerberus Investment Partners
- Chisholm Management, LP
- Clearwater Advisors, LLC-TBAs
- CVC European Equity
- D.B. Fitzpatrick & Co.-Fixed Income
- D.B. Fitzpatrick & Co.-Idaho Mortgages
- Donald Smith & Co.
- Endeavour Capital
- Epic Venture Fund
- Fiera Capital (NZAM)
- First Reserve Fund XI
- Galen Associates, LP
- Genesis Asset Managers
- Gores Capital Partners, LLP
- Green Equity Investors IV, LP
- Hamilton Lane Co - Investment Fund, LP
- Hamilton Lane Secondary Fund, LP
- Highway 12 Ventures, LP
- Ida-West
- IR + M
- KKR 2006 Fund, LP
- Kohlberg & Co.
- Koll Partners, LLP
- Lindsay Goldberg & Bessemer
- Longview Partners
- Mellon Investments Corp. -Emerging Market Index
- Mellon Investments Corp. -Mid Cap Completion
- Mellon Investments Corp. -R2000 Small Cap
- Mellon Investments Corp.-International Stock Index
- Mellon Investments Corp.-REIT Index
- Mellon Investments Corp.-S&P 500 Large Cap (Climate Action 100+)
- Mellon Transition Management Services (Climate Action 100+)
- Mondrian Investment Partners
- Mountain Pacific Investment Advisors
- Newbridge Asia, LP
- Olympic IDA Fund II, LLC
- Peregrine Capital Management
- PERSI Cash in Short-Term Investment Poo
- Providence Equity Partners, LLP
- Prudential Investments
- Silverlake Partners
- State Street Global Advisors-Fixed Income (NZAM)
- State Street Global Advisors-TIPS (NZAM)
- T3 Partners, LP
- Veritas Capital Partners, LP
- Walter Scott LTD
- Western Asset Management
- Zesiger Capital Group
Governance and accountability
This section features information about the five-member board of trustees that oversees the Judges’ Retirement Fund (JRF), as part of the Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho (PERSI). The board is specific to oversight of PERSI and exercises oversight duties for the sub-funds that comprise PERSI, including JRF.[8]
Board selection method
The board of trustees that oversees PERSI is made up of five members. The members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Idaho State Senate. Two board members are members of the retirement system with at least ten years of service, while three are citizens of Idaho and are not members of PERSI.[8]
Board of trustees membership
A five-member board of trustees oversees the operation and administration of PERSI. The following individuals served on the board as of June 2024:[8]
- Jeff Cilek, chairman
- Joy Fisher
- Lori Wolff
- Park Price
- Darin DeAngeli
See also
- Public pensions in Idaho
- 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 1.3 Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho, “Financial Statements June 30, 2023 Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho,” June 17, 2024
- ↑ State of Idaho Judicial Branch, “Compensation Package for District Appellate Judges,” June 17, 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
- ↑ Ballotpedia, "Ballotpedia: Asset management data for state-administered pension funds across the 50 states," March 2023
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho, “Retirement Board,” June 17, 2024
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