New Hampshire Judicial Retirement Plan
| New Hampshire Judicial Retirement Plan | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Concord, New Hampshire |
| Top official: | Deborah B. Butler, chair |
| Year founded: | 2005 |
| Active members: | 67 |
| Website: | Official website |
| Total assets under management | |
| 2022: | $72,220,865 |
- See also: Public pensions in New Hampshire
The New Hampshire Judicial Retirement Plan (NHJRP) is a New Hampshire state pension fund that provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to New Hampshire's state court judges and their families. The New Hampshire Judicial Retirement Plan had $72,220,865 ($72.2 million) in total assets under management as of December 31, 2022.[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 NHJRP.
- Pension performance overview: Overview of the funding level and assets managed by the NHJRP.
- Assets and asset management: Information about the asset management companies (AMCs) that contract with NHJRP, 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 NHJRP's oversight board, including members and selection.
Background
- See also: Public pensions
The New Hampshire Judicial Retirement Plan (NHJRP), founded in 2005, operates as a defined benefit plan based on a formula established by New Hampshire state law. These plans—based on the employee's length of service and salary— provide retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to New Hampshire's state court judges and their families.[1]
NHJRP served over 67 active members and approximately 79 retirees and beneficiaries as of December 31, 2022.[1]
Pension performance overview
The following table features information about the funding level and assets managed by the New Hampshire Judicial Retirement Plan as of December 31, 2022:[1]
| New Hampshire Judicial Retirement Plan performance (December 31, 2022) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal year | Percent funded | Unfunded liabilities | Total assets |
| 2022 | 100% | $0 | $72,220,865 |
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 New Hampshire Judicial Retirement Plan
The New Hampshire Judicial Retirement Plan contracted with 14 asset management company (AMC) as of June 30, 2024. Of those companies or funds, two were investor participants in Climate Action 100+, and one was a member of NZAM as of October 2024. The following list identifies the AMC (or the specific fund) contracting with the New Hampshire Judicial Retirement Plan:[5]
| New Hampshire Judicial 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[6] | Climate Action 100+ signatory as of October 2024 |
| Federated US Treasury Cash Reserves I | Short Term Liquidity; | 3,867,516.00 | 4.425% | No | No |
| Baird Intermediate Bond Instl | Fixed Income; | 1,287,071.00 | 1.473% | No | No |
| Harbor Core Bond Retirement - IR&M | Fixed Income; | 54,277.00 | 0.062% | No | No |
| Schwab Fundamental US Large Company Ida | Domestic Equity; | 2,049,271 | 2.345% | No | No |
| Vanguard Institutional Index Matt | Domestic Equity; | 14,739,157 | 16.865% | No | No |
| Vanguard Growth Index Instl | Domestic Equity; | 14,077,329 | 16.108% | No | No |
| William Blair Small Cap Value R6 | Domestic Equity; | 7,029,271 | 8.043% | No | Yes |
| Conestoga Small Cap Institutional | Domestic Equity; | 16,435,741.00 | 18.806% | No | No |
| Dodge & Cox international Stock | International Equity; | 7,421,049.00 | 8.491% | No | No |
| Vanguard Developed Markets Index Adm | International Equity; | 2,112,687.00 | 2.417% | No | No |
| American Funds SuroPacific Gr R8 | International Equity; | 2,071,340.00 | 2.370% | No | No |
| Cohen & Steers Instl Realty Shares | Real Assets; | 3,573,196.00 | 4.089% | No | No |
| DWS RREEF Real Assets RS | Real Assets; | 3,258,597.00 | 3.729% | Yes | Yes |
| Magnitude International | Marketable Alternatives; | 3,600,718.00 | 4.120% | No | No |
Governance and accountability
This section features information about the seven-member board of trustees that oversees the New Hampshire Judicial Retirement Plan. The board is specific to the oversight of the New Hampshire Judicial Retirement Plan and does not exercise oversight duties for other state funds.[1]
Board selection method
The board of trustees that oversees NHJRP is made up of seven members. The board is composed as follows, according to the 2022 NHJRP Financial Report:[1]
|
Board of trustees membership
A seven-member board of trustees oversees the operation and administration of NHJRP. The following individuals served on the board as of June 30, 2024:[1][8]
- Deborah B. Butler, chair
- Daniel E. Will
- Sharon M. Carson
- Keith Erf
- Edward M. Gordon
- Mark S. Derby
- Crystal A. Dionne
See also
- Public pensions in New Hampshire
- 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 1.6 NH Department of Administrative Services, "New Hampshire Judicial Retirement Plan Financial Statements And Required Supplementary Information December 31, 2022 and 2021," October 3, 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.
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ NH Department of Treasury, "New Hampshire Judicial Retirement Plan Second Quarter 2024 Report," October 3, 2024
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