Iowa Peace Officer Retirement Plan
| Iowa Peace Officer Retirement Plan | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Des Moines, Iowa |
| Top official: | Stephan K. Bayens, chair |
| Active members: | 588 |
| Website: | Official website |
| Total assets under management | |
| 2023: | $728,696,523 |
- See also: Public pensions in Iowa
The Iowa Peace Officer Retirement Plan (PORS) is a Iowa state pension fund that provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to peace officers in the state of Iowa and their families. The Iowa Peace Officer Retirement Plan had $728,696,523 ($728.7 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 Peace Officer Retirement Plan.
- Pension performance overview: Overview of the funding level and assets managed by the Iowa Peace Officer Retirement Plan.
- Assets and asset management: Information about the asset management companies (AMCs) that contract with Iowa Peace Officer Retirement Plan, 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 Peace Officer Retirement Plan's oversight board, including members and selection.
Background
- See also: Public pensions
The Iowa Peace Officer Retirement Plan 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 peace officers in the state of Iowa and their families.[1]
The Iowa Peace Officer Retirement Plan served over 588 active members and 679 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 Peace Officer Retirement Plan as of June 2023:[1]
| Employees Retirement System of Iowa (June 2023) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal year | Percent funded | Unfunded liabilities | Total assets[2] |
| 2023 | 77.9% | $206,538,004 | $728,696,523 |
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 Peace Officer Retirement Plan
The Iowa Peace Officer Retirement Plan contracted with eight asset management companies (AMCs) as of December 6, 2024. 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 Peace Officer Retirement Plan:[6]
| Iowa Peace Officer Retirement Plan 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 |
| Baillie Gifford | Private debt; | No | No | ||
| Fisher Investments | Small Cap Value Equity; | No | Yes | ||
| Jennison | Large Cap Equity-Active; | No | Yes | ||
| Lazard Asset Management | Core Plus Fixed Income ; | Yes | Yes | ||
| Principal Global Investors | Real Estate; | No | No | ||
| To be determined | Private equity; | No | No | ||
| To be determined | Private debt; | No | No | ||
| Vanguard | Large Cap Equity-Passive; | No | No | ||
Governance and accountability
This section features information about the 5-member board of trustees that oversees the Iowa Peace Officer Retirement Plan. The board is specific to oversight of the Iowa Peace Officer Retirement Plan and does not exercise oversight duties for other state funds.[1]
Board selection method
The board of trustees that oversees the Iowa Peace Officer Retirement Plan is made up of 5 members:
- the Commissioner of Public Safety, who is chairperson of the board,
- the Treasurer of State,
- an active member of the system selected by secret ballot,
- a retired member of the system selected by secret ballot, and
- a civilian appointed by the Governor.[8]
Board of trustees membership
A 5-member board of trustees oversees the operation and administration of the Iowa Peace Officer Retirement Plan. The following individuals served on the board as of June 2023:[1]
- Stephan K. Bayens, chair
- Roby Smith
- Mark Oiler
- Michael Metzger
- Robert Conrad
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 1.5 https://dps.iowa.gov/media/446/download?inline= DPS.Iowa.gov, “State of Iowa Peace Officers' Retirement, Accident, and Disability System: Actuarial Valuation Report," accessed July 3, 2024] Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "report" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 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.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedboard
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