Maryland Teachers' Pension System
| Maryland Teachers' Pension System | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Baltimore, Maryland |
| Top official: | Dereck E. Davis, chair |
| Year founded: | 1980 |
| Active members: | 112,773 |
| Website: | Official website |
| Total assets under management | |
| 2023: | $41,303,062,250 |
- See also: Public pensions in Maryland
The Maryland Teachers' Pension System (TPS) is a Maryland state pension fund that provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to the state's educators, university faculty, school administration personnel, and librarians employed at educational institutions. TPS had $41,303,062,250 ($41.3 billion) 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 TPS.
- Pension performance overview: Overview of the funding level and assets managed by TPS.
- Assets and asset management: Information about the asset management companies (AMCs) that contract with TPS, 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 TPS's oversight board, including members and selection.
Background
- See also: Public pensions
The Maryland Teachers' Pension System (TPS), founded in 1980, is a sub-fund under the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System (MSRPS). It invests the assets of and provides funding for the state's educators, university faculty, school administration personnel, and librarians at educational institutions. TPS operates two plans, the Teachers' Pension System Alternate Contributory Pension Selection and the Teachers' Pension System Reformed Contributory Pension Selection plans.[2]
TPS served over 112,773 active members and approximately 84,177 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 Maryland Teachers' Pension System as of June 30, 2023:[1]
| Maryland Teachers' Pension System pension performance (June 30, 2023) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal year | Percent funded | Unfunded liabilities | Total assets |
| 2023 | 78.75% | $11,145,091,466 | $41,303,062,250 |
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 Maryland Teachers' Pension System
The Maryland Teachers' Pension System (TPS) is a sub-fund under the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System (MSRPS). MSRPS administers TPS, among other retirement and benefit plans for the governmental workers of Maryland. TPS does not contract with its own AMCs; the AMCs for MSRPS account for all the pension plans it administers.
MSRPS contracted with 31 asset management companies (AMCs) or specific funds as of June 30, 2021. Of those companies, six were investor participants in Climate Action 100+, and five were members of NZAM, as of 2024. The following list identifies the AMCs (and in some cases, the specific funds) contracting with MSRPS:[6]
- AQR Capital Management, LLC
- Artisan Partners Limited Partnership
- Attucks Asset Management, LLC
- Axiom International Investors (Climate Action 100+)
- Baillie Gifford & Company (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- Brown Capital Management
- Capital Prospects, LLC
- Credit Suisse Asset Management (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- DE Shaw & Co., LP
- Dimensional Fund Advisors, Inc.
- Dodge & Cox
- Double Line US Securitized
- Durable Capital Partners
- Equity Long Short
- FIS Group, Inc.
- Internally Managed
- Leading Edge Invest. Advisors, LLC
- Longview Partners Ltd.
- Marshall Wace (Climate Action 100+)
- MetLife Investment Management
- Pacific Investment Management Company
- Pine Bridge Investments LLC
- Polunin Capital Management (Climate Action 100+)
- Record Currency Management
- RhumbLine Advisors
- RWC Partners Emerging Markets
- State Street Global Advisors (NZAM)
- T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. (NZAM)
- TT International (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- Western Asset Management
- Westwood Global Investment
Governance and accountability
This section features information about the 15-member board of trustees that oversees the Maryland Teachers' Pension System (TPS). The board is not specific to oversight of TPS and exercises oversight duties for other state funds.[7]
Board selection method
The board of trustees overseeing TPS comprises 15 members who are either elected, appointed, or serve ex officio.
The board comprises three ex officio members including the Secretary of Budget and Management, the State Comptroller, and the State Treasurer.
The elected members include one active member and one retiree of the Correctional Officers’ Retirement System, the Employees’ Pension System, the Employees’ Retirement System, the Judges’ Retirement System, the Legislative Pension Plan, the Local Fire and Police System, or the Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension Plan; one active and one retired member of the Teachers' Pension System; one active or one retired member of the State Police Retirement System.
The appointed members include a representative of the interests of participating governmental units in the Employees’ Pension System and the Employees’ Retirement System; a representative of the interests of county governments who has at least 10 years of experience in financial management and oversight of county government budgets; and five representatives of public interests that are not members of any of the systems and who do not have conflicting interests as specified in the establishing statute. The Governor appoints the positions with the consent of the Maryland Senate.[8]
Board of trustees membership
A 15-member board of trustees oversees the operation and administration of TPS. The following individuals served on the board as of August 2024:[7]
- Dereck E. Davis, chair
- Brooke Lierman, vice chair
- Jamaal R. A. Craddock
- James P. Daly, Jr.
- Ayana K. English-Brown
- Helene Grady
- Sheila Hill
- Charles Hopkins
- Richard E. Norman
- Mia N. Pittman, CFA
- Douglas Prouty
- Michelle Rhodes Brown
- Tarrus Richardson
- Robert F. Sandlass, Jr.
- Martin Noven
See also
- Public pensions in Maryland
- 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 Maryland State Retirement and Pension System, "Maryland State Retirement and Pension System Actuarial Valuation Report as of June 30, 2023," August 19, 2024
- ↑ Maryland State Retirement and Pension System, "Benefit Handbook Teachers' Pension System," August 20, 2024
- ↑ 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
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Maryland State Retirement and Pension System, "Board of Trustees," August 20, 2024
- ↑ Justia US law, "MD. State Personnel and Pensions Code § 21-104 (2023)," August 20, 2024
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