Montana Municipal Police Officers' Retirement System
| Montana Municipal Police Officers' Retirement System | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Helena, Montana |
| Top official: | William Holahan executive director |
| Year founded: | 1974 |
| Active members: | 862 |
| Website: | Official website |
| Total assets under management | |
| 2023: | $594,019,190 |
- See also: Public pensions in Montana
The Montana Municipal Police Officers' Retirement System (MPORS) is a Montana state pension fund that provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to "municipal police officers employed by first- and second-class cities, and other cities that adopt the plan." The Montana Municipal Police Officers' Retirement System had $594,019,190 ($594.0 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 Montana Municipal Police Officers' Retirement System.
- Pension performance overview: Overview of the funding level and assets managed by the Montana Municipal Police Officers' Retirement System.
- Assets and asset management: Information about the asset management companies (AMCs) that contract with Montana Municipal Police Officers' 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 Montana Municipal Police Officers' Retirement System's oversight board, including members and selection.
Background
- See also: Public pensions
The Montana Municipal Police Officers' Retirement System, founded in 1974, operates as a defined benefit plan based on a formula established by Montana state law, is a sub fund of Montana Board of Investments. These plans—based on the employee's length of service and salary— provide retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to "municipal police officers employed by first- and second-class cities, and other cities that adopt the plan."[1]
The Montana Municipal Police Officers' Retirement System served over 862 active members and 928 retirees and beneficiaries as of 2023.[1]
Pension performance overview
The following table features information about the funding level and assets managed by the Montana Municipal Police Officers' Retirement System as of June 2023:[1]
| Montana Municipal Police Officers' Retirement System performance (June 2023) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal year | Percent funded | Unfunded liabilities | Total assets |
| 2023 | 72.65% | $223,680,100 | $594,019,190 |
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.[2][3]
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.”[4]
List of AMCs contracting with the Montana Municipal Police Officers' Retirement System
The Montana Municipal Police Officers' Retirement System, as a sub fund of the Montana Board of Investments, contracted with 58 asset management companies (AMCs) as of June 30, 2024. Of those companies or funds, ten were investor participants in Climate Action 100+, and twenty-eight were members of NZAM as of October 2024. The following list identifies the AMCs (and in some cases, the specific funds) contracting with the Montana Municipal Police Officers' Retirement System:[5]
| Montana Municipal Police Officers' 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[6] | Climate Action 100+ signatory as of October 2024 |
| BlackRock | Domestic Equity; | 2,428,363,965.00 | 8.580% | Yes | No |
| Northern Trust | Domestic Equity; | 1,665,118,664.00 | 5.883% | Yes | Yes |
| State Street Global Advisors (ETF & Cash) | Domestic Equity, International Equity, Core Fixed Income, Non-Core Fixed Income, Cash Equivalents; | 1,060,930.00 | 0.004% | Yes | No |
| Acadian Asset Mgmt | International Equity; | 530,203,614.00 | 1.873% | Yes | Yes |
| Baillie Gifford | International Equity; | 166,230,892.00 | 0.587% | Yes | Yes |
| BlackRock | International Equity; | 869,088,608.00 | 3.071% | Yes | No |
| Invesco | International Equity; | 276,109,628.00 | 0.976% | Yes | No |
| Lazard Asset Mgmt | International Equity; | 251,023,949.00 | 0.887% | Yes | Yes |
| State Street Global Advisors (cash) | International Equity; | 1,224,737.00 | 0.004% | Yes | No |
| Montana Board of Investments | Core Fixed Income; | 2,167,827,107.00 | 7.660% | No | No |
| State Street Global Advisors (cash) | Core Fixed Income; | 368,147.00 | 0.001% | Yes | No |
| Cohen & Steers | Non-Core Fixed Income; | 185,786,790.00 | 0.656% | No | No |
| Neuberger Berman | Non-Core Fixed Income; | 134,980,054.00 | 0.477% | Yes | Yes |
| Oaktree Capital Mgmt | Non-Core Fixed Income; | 231,000,045.00 | 0.816% | No | No |
| Payden & Rygel | Non-Core Fixed Income; | 187,069,862.00 | 0.661% | Yes | Yes |
| Shenkman Capital Mgmt | Non-Core Fixed Income; | 202,546,661.00 | 0.716% | No | No |
| Zazove Associates | Non-Core Fixed Income; | 103,701,302.00 | 0.366% | No | No |
| State Street Global Advisors | Non-Core Fixed Income; | 463,424.00 | 0.002% | Yes | No |
| Montana Board of Investments | Cash Asset Class; | 351,185,053.00 | 1.241% | No | No |
| State Street Global Advisors (cash) | Cash Asset Class; | 1,587,548.00 | 0.006% | Yes | No |
| Blackrock | Short Term Investment Pool; | 1,000,000.00 | 0.004% | Yes | No |
| Fidelity | Short Term Investment Pool; | 10,000,000.00 | 0.035% | No | No |
| Montana Board of Investments | Short Term Investment Pool; | 8,685,419,636.00 | 30.688% | No | No |
| Morgan Stanley | Short Term Investment Pool; | 15,000,000.00 | 0.053% | No | No |
| State Street Global Advisors (cash) | Short Term Investment Pool; | 58,037,391.00 | 0.205% | Yes | No |
| AEW | Trust Fund Investment Pool; | 48,339,150.00 | 0.171% | No | No |
| American Realty Advisors | Trust Fund Investment Pool; | 55,841,746.00 | 0.197% | No | No |
| Angelo Gordon | Trust Fund Investment Pool; | 38,225,264.00 | 0.135% | No | No |
| AW Property Co | Trust Fund Investment Pool; | 22,427,800.00 | 0.079% | No | No |
| Bell Partners | Trust Fund Investment Pool; | 30,988,010.00 | 0.109% | No | No |
| CBRE | Trust Fund Investment Pool; | 41,425,060.00 | 0.146% | Yes | No |
| EQT | Trust Fund Investment Pool; | 10,853,946.00 | 0.038% | Yes | No |
| Equus | Trust Fund Investment Pool; | 44,575,369.00 | 0.157% | No | No |
| Everwest Real Estate Investors | Trust Fund Investment Pool; | 40,315,651.00 | 0.142% | No | No |
| Fiedelity | Trust Fund Investment Pool; | 43,138,961.00 | 0.152% | No | No |
| Heitman | Trust Fund Investment Pool; | 108,152,249.00 | 0.382% | No | No |
| ITE | Trust Fund Investment Pool; | 35,000,000.00 | 0.124% | No | No |
| JP Morgan | Trust Fund Investment Pool; | 93,340,951.00 | 0.330% | Yes | No |
| Montana Board of Investments | Trust Fund Investment Pool; | 2,054,982,457.00 | 7.261% | No | No |
| Neuberger Berman | Trust Fund Investment Pool; | 55,268,934.00 | 0.195% | Yes | Yes |
| Oaktree Capital | Trust Fund Investment Pool; | 76,262,152.00 | 0.269% | No | No |
| PGIM Inc. | Trust Fund Investment Pool; | 85,943,161.00 | 0.304% | No | No |
| Shenkman Capital Mgmt | Trust Fund Investment Pool; | 71,861,235.00 | 0.254% | No | No |
| Stockbridge | Trust Fund Investment Pool; | 73,952,850.00 | 0.261% | No | No |
| UBS Realty Investors LLC | Trust Fund Investment Pool; | 20,929,209.00 | 0.074% | Yes | Yes |
| American Realty Advisors | State Fund; | 18,032,472.00 | 0.064% | No | No |
| BlackRock (Commingled) | State Fund; | 175,909,243.00 | 0.622% | Yes | No |
| EQT | State Fund; | 4,651,691.00 | 0.016% | Yes | No |
| Heitman | State Fund; | 20,375,489.00 | 0.072% | No | No |
| ITE | State Fund; | 15,000,000 | 0.053% | No | No |
| JP Morgan | State Fund; | 17,617,533 | 0.062% | Yes | No |
| Montana Board of Investments | State Fund; | 1,130,614,111 | 3.995% | No | No |
| Neuberger Berman | State Fund; | 44,640,046 | 0.158% | Yes | Yes |
| PGIM Inc. | State Fund; | 20,074,201 | 0.071% | No | No |
| UBS Realty Investors LLC | State Fund; | 13,073,747 | 0.046% | Yes | Yes |
| BlackRock (Commingled) | Separately Managed Accounts; | 9,452,158 | 0.033% | Yes | No |
| Montant Board of Investments | Separately Managed Accounts; | 402,734,889 | 1.423% | No | No |
| State Street Global Advisors (cash) | Separately Managed Accounts; | 2,486,988 | 0.009% | Yes | No |
Governance and accountability
This section features information about the seven-member board of trustees that oversees the Montana Municipal Police Officers' Retirement System. The board is not specific to oversight of the Montana Municipal Police Officers' Retirement System and does exercise oversight duties for other state funds.[7]
Board selection method
The board of trustees that oversees the Montana Municipal Police Officers' Retirement System is made up of seven members, who are appointed by the governor.[7]
Board of trustees membership
A seven-member board of trustees oversees the operation and administration of the Montana Municipal Police Officers' Retirement System. The following individuals served on the board as of July 2023:[7]
- Maggie Peterson , president
- Richard Hickel, vice president
- Dave Galt
- Sonja Woods
- Terry Halpin
- Mallory Merritt
- Jason Strouf
See also
- Public pensions in Montana
- 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 MPERA.MT.gov, "Municipal Police Officers’ Retirement System of the State of Montana: Actuarial Valuation As of June 30, 2023," accessed July 30, 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
- ↑ Note: NZAM announced on January 13, 2025, that it was suspending operations and removing the commitment statement and list of signatories from its website.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 MPERA.MT.gov/, “About the Board,” accessed July 22, 2024
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