Municipal Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana
| Municipal Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| Top official: | Phyllis McGraw, chair |
| Year founded: | 1955 |
| Active members: | 4,484 |
| Website: | Official website |
| Total assets under management | |
| 2023: | $1,003,608,550 |
- See also: Public pensions in Louisiana
The Municipal Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana (MERSLA) is a Louisiana state pension fund that provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to the state's municipal employees. MERSLA had $1,003,608,550 ($1.0 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 MERSLA.
- Pension performance overview: Overview of the funding level and assets managed by MERSLA.
- Assets and asset management: Information about the asset management companies (AMCs) that contract with MERSLA, 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 MERSLA's oversight board, including members and selection.
Background
- See also: Public pensions
The Municipal Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana (MERSLA), founded in 1955, invests the assets of and provides funding for the retirement of employees of the municipalities of the state. MERSLA operates two plans, including a defined benefit plan and a defined benefit plan integrated with Social Security.[2]
MERSLA served over 4,484 active members and approximately 3,790 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 Municipal Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana as of June 30, 2023:[1]
| Municipal Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana pension performance (June 30, 2023) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal year | Percent funded | Unfunded liabilities | Total assets |
| 2023 | 76.52% | $48,847,862 | $1,003,608,550 |
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 Municipal Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana
The Municipal Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana (MERSLA) contracted with 17 asset management companies (AMCs) or specific funds as of December 14, 2023. Of those companies, one was an investor participant 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 MERSLA:[6]
| Municipal Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana (MERSLA) 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 |
| Northern Trust S&P 500 Index | Domestic Equity; | 235,590,457 | 21.466% | No | No |
| Northern Trust S&P 400 MidCap Index | Domestic Equity; | 74,055,379 | 6.748% | No | No |
| Barrow Hanley Small Cap Value Equity | Domestic Equity; | 44,308,746 | 4.037% | No | No |
| Loomis Sayles Small Cap Growth | Domestic Equity; | 30,606,618 | 2.789% | No | No |
| First Eagle International Value | Developed Equity; | 42,160,642 | 3.842% | No | No |
| WCM Focused International Growth Fund | Developed Equity; | 50,346,806 | 4.587% | No | No |
| Northern Trust MSCI EAFE Index | Developed Equity; | 46,437,387 | 4.231% | No | No |
| Dimensional Emerging Markets Value | Emerging Market Equity; | 50,748,010 | 4.624% | No | No |
| GQG Partners Emerging Markets | Emerging Market Equity; | 66,891,892 | 6.095% | No | No |
| Northern Trust Barclays Aggregate Index | U.S. Core Bond Assets; | 197,827,099 | 18.025% | No | No |
| Northern Trust TIPS | Treasury Inflation Protected Securities; | 29,168,990 | 2.658% | No | No |
| Brandywine Global Opportunistic Fixed Income | Foreign Bond Assets; | 41,995,393 | 3.826% | Yes | Yes |
| Loomis Sayles Multisector Full Discretion | High Yield Bonds; | 53,563,764 | 4.881% | No | No |
| TA Realty Core Property Fund, L.P. | Core Real Estate; | 84,486,187 | 7.698% | No | No |
| BlueBay Direct Lending Fund II, L.P. | Private Debt; | 3,508,015 | 0.320% | No | No |
| ArrowMark Global Opportunity Fund IV | Private Debt; | 35,582,715 | 3.242% | No | No |
| Gainesville Vision | Non-Core Real Estate; | 3,569,961 | 0.325% | No | No |
Governance and accountability
This section features information about the 11-member board of trustees that oversees the Municipal Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana (MERSLA). The board is specific to oversight of MERSLA and does not exercise oversight duties for other state funds.[8]
Board selection method
The board of trustees that oversees MERSLA is made up of 11 members. It consists of five active MERSLA members who are elected by the active membership, one retired MERSLA member elected by the retiree membership, the president of the Louisiana Municipal Association, a member of the House Retirement Committee appointed by the speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives, the chairman of the Senate Retirement Committee, the state treasurer, and the commissioner of the Division of Administration.[8]
Board of trustees membership
An 11-member board of trustees oversees the operation and administration of MERSLA. The following individuals served on the board as of July 2024:[8][9]
- Phyllis McGraw, chair
- Susan E. Percle, vice chair
- Rich Dupree
- Scot Rhodes
- Ty Carlos
- Mayor Derrick Johnson
- Representative Roy Daryl Adams
- Senator Edward J. Price
- John Fleming
- Taylor Barras
- vacant
See also
- Public pensions in Louisiana
- 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 MERSLA, "Annual Funding Valuation June 30, 2023 Municipal Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana," July 23, 2024
- ↑ MERSLA, "About Us," July 23, 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.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 MERSLA, "Board of Trustees," July 23, 2024
- ↑ MERSLA, "Meet the Board," July 23, 2024
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