Kentucky Judicial Retirement Plan
| Judicial Retirement Plan | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Frankfort, Kentucky |
| Top official: | Justice Daniel J. Venters chair |
| Year founded: | 1960 |
| Active members: | 868 |
| Website: | Official website |
| Total assets under management | |
| 2022: | $532,360,754 |
- See also: Public pensions in Kentucky
The Judicial Retirement Plan is a Kentucky state pension fund that provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to the state's "Justices of the Supreme Court, Judges of the Court of Appeals, Circuit, Family and District Judges, who were first elected or appointed to the judiciary prior to January 1, 2014" and their families. The Judicial Retirement Plan had $532,360,754 ($532.4 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 Judicial Retirement Plan.
- Pension performance overview: Overview of the funding level and assets managed by the Judicial Retirement Plan.
- Assets and asset management: Information about the asset management companies (AMCs) that contract with Judicial 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 Judicial Retirement Plan's oversight board, including members and selection.
Background
- See also: Public pensions
The Judicial Retirement Plan, founded in 1960, operates as a defined benefit plan based on a formula established by Kentucky state law. These plans—based on the employee's length of service and salary—provide retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to the state's "Justices of the Supreme Court, Judges of the Court of Appeals, Circuit, Family and District Judges, who were first elected or appointed to the judiciary prior to January 1, 2014" and their families. [1]
The Judicial Retirement Plan served over 868 active members and approximately 1,697 retirees and beneficiaries as of June 2023.[1]
Pension performance overview
The following table features information about the funding level and assets managed by the Judicial Retirement Plan as of June 2023[1]
| Judicial Retirement Plan performance (June 2023) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal year | Percent funded | Unfunded liabilities | Total assets[2] |
| 2023 | 23.3% | $(100,579,440) | $532,360,754 |
Assets and asset management
| Environmental, social, and corporate governance |
|---|
|
| • 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 investment assets for state pension funds across all 50 states.
The Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative (NZAM) suspended operations in January 2025 and relaunched in February 2026 with more than 250 signatories under a revised commitment statement that removed its prior net-zero deadline requirement.[3]
As of October 2024, 391 AMCs were investor participants in the Climate Action 100+ initiative, which aims to align investor engagement with companies toward the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.[4]
List of AMCs contracting with the Judicial Retirement Plan
The Judicial Retirement Plan contracted with one asset management company (AMC) as of June 2022. This AMC was not an investor participant in Climate Action 100+ or NZAM as of 2024. The following list identifies the AMCs (and in some cases, the specific funds) contracting with the Judicial Retirement Plan:[5]
- Baird Trust Company
Governance and accountability
This section features information about the eight-member board of trustees that oversees the Kentucky Retirement System, which oversees both the Judicial Retirement Plan and Legislators Retirement Plan. The board is specific to oversight of the Kentucky Retirement System and does not exercise oversight duties for other state funds.[6]
Board selection method
The board of trustees that oversees the Judicial Retirement Plan is made up of eight members: three trustees are appointed by the state judiciary, two are appointed by the state legislature, and two are appointed by the governor.[6]
Board of trustees membership
A eight-member board of trustees oversees the operation and administration of Judicial Retirement Plan. The following individuals served on the board as of July 2023:[6]
- Justice Daniel J. Venters chair
- Judge John R. Grise
- Judge Doughlas M. George
- Representative Brad Montell
- Representative Scott Brinkman
- Senator Jimmy Higdon
- Mr. Ben D. Allison
- Ramsey Bova
- Mr. Stephen F. LeLaurin
See also
- Public pensions in Kentucky
- 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 kyret.ky.gov, "Kentucky Judicial Retirement Plan: Annual comprehensive financial report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023," accessed July 15, 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.
- ↑ Reuters, "Investor climate group relaunches with looser rules but fewer US members", February 25, 2026
- ↑ Climate Action 100+, "The Three Goals," accessed June 20, 2023
- ↑ Ballotpedia, "Ballotpedia: Asset management data for state-administered pension funds across the 50 states," March 2023
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 kyret.ky.gov, “Board of Trustees,” accessed July 15, 2024
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