Iowa Judicial Retirement System
| Iowa Judicial Retirement System | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Des Moines, Iowa |
| Top official: | Bob Gast, state court administer |
| Active members: | 216 |
| Website: | Official website |
| Total assets under management | |
| 2023: | $255,447,210 |
- See also: Public pensions in Iowa
The Iowa Judicial Retirement System (JRS) is a Iowa state pension fund that provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to judges in the state of Iowa and their families. The Iowa Judicial Retirement System had $255,447,210 ($255.4 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 the Iowa Judicial Retirement System.
- Pension performance overview: Overview of the funding level and assets managed by the Iowa Judicial Retirement System.
- Assets and asset management: Information about the asset management companies (AMCs) that contract with Iowa Judicial Retirement System, 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 the Iowa Judicial Retirement System's oversight board, including members and selection.
Background
- See also: Public pensions
The Iowa Judicial Retirement System operates as a defined benefit plan based on a formula established by Iowa state law. These plans—based on the employee's length of service and salary— provide retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to judges in the state of Iowa and their families.[1]
The Iowa Judicial Retirement System served over 216 active members and 247 retirees and beneficiaries as of 2023.[1]
Pension performance overview
The following table features information about the funding level and assets managed by the Iowa Judicial Retirement System as of June 2023:[1]
| Employees Retirement System of Iowa (June 2023) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal year | Percent funded | Unfunded liabilities | Total assets[2] |
| 2023 | 96.1% | $10,331,866 | $255,447,210 |
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.[3][4]
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.”[5]
List of AMCs contracting with the Iowa Judicial Retirement System
The Iowa Judicial Retirement System contracted with seven asset management companies (AMCs) as of November 1, 2023. Of those companies or funds, three were investor participants in Climate Action 100+, and one was a member of NZAM as of October 2024. The following list identifies the AMCs (and in some cases, the specific funds) contracting with the Iowa Judicial Retirement System:[6]
| Iowa Judicial Retirement System asset management companies Click on a column header below to sort the list of asset managers. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMC name | Investment type | Assets under management | Percentage of total fund assets | NZAM Initiative signatory as of October 2024[7] | Climate Action 100+ signatory as of October 2024 |
| William Blair | Small Cap Equity - Growth ; | No | Yes | ||
| Lazard | Core Plus Fixed Income ; | Yes | Yes | ||
| Reams | Core Plus Fixed Income ; | No | No | ||
| Dow Jones SPDR REIT ETF | Real Estate; | No | No | ||
| Vanguard | Large Cap Equity ; | No | No | ||
| Wasatch Advisors | Small Cap Equity - Value ; | No | No | ||
| William Blair | Small Cap Equity - Growth ; | No | Yes | ||
Governance and accountability
This section features information about the governance that oversees the Iowa Judicial Retirement System. The Iowa Judicial Retirement System does not have a board of trustees.[1]
Board selection method
The Iowa Judicial Judicial Retirement System does not have a board of trustees and is administered by the State Court Administrator who is appointed by the Supreme Court
Board of trustees membership
The Iowa Judicial Judicial Retirement System does not have a board of trustees.[8]
See also
- Public pensions in Iowa
- 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 1.4 Iowa.gov, “Independent Auditor's Report: Schedule of Employer Pension Amounts," accessed July 3, 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
- ↑ Note: NZAM announced on January 13, 2025, that it was suspending operations and removing the commitment statement and list of signatories from its website.
- ↑ Iowa.org, “Judicial Retirement System,” accessed July 2, 2024
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