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Ohio School Employees Retirement System
| Ohio School Employees Retirement | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Columbus, Ohio |
| Top official: | Frank Weglarz, chair |
| Year founded: | 1937 |
| Active members: | 129,000 |
| Website: | Official website |
| Total assets under management | |
| 2023: | $17,895,149,279 |
The Ohio School Employees Retirement System is a Ohio state pension fund that provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to the state's public school employees. The Ohio Public School Retirement System had $17,895,149,279 ($17.9 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 the Ohio Shcool Employees Retirement System.
- Pension performance overview: Overview of the funding level and assets managed by the Ohio School Employees Retirement System.
- Assets and asset management: Information about the asset management companies (AMCs) that contract with Ohio School Employees 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 Ohio School Employees Retirement System oversight board, including members and selection.
Background
- See also: Public pensions
The Ohio School Employees Retirement, founded in 1937 , invests the assets of and provides funding for the Ohio School Employees Retirement System (SERS) pension plan pension plan. SERS operates as defined benefit pension plans based on a formula established by Ohio state law. These plans—based on the employee's length of service and salary— provide retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to the state's public school employees and their families.[2][3]
The Ohio School Employees Retirement System served over 159,000 active members and approximately 89,000 retirees and beneficiaries as of March 2024.[2]
Pension performance overview
The following table features information about the funding level and assets managed by the Ohio School Employees Retirement System as of June 30, 2023:[4]
| Ohio School Employees Retirement System pension performance (June 30, 2023) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal year | Percent funded | Unfunded liabilities | Total assets[5] |
| 2023 | 76.61% | $5,398.7 million | $17,895,149,279 |
Assets and asset management
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.[6][7]
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.”[8]
List of AMCs contracting with the Ohio School Employees Retirement System
The Ohio School Employees Retirement Fund contracted with 114 asset management companies (AMCs) as of June 30, 2024. Of those companies, eleven were investor participants in Climate Action 100+, and twenty-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 the Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund:[1]
| Ohio School Employees Retirement Fund 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[9] | Climate Action 100+ signatory as of October 2024 |
| Wilshire Associates Inc | Opportunistic and Tactical; | No | No | ||
| Barings Global Advisers Ltd | Opportunistic and Tactical; | No | Yes | ||
| The Carlyle Group | Opportunistic and Tactical; | No | No | ||
| GoldenTree Asset Management LP | Opportunistic and Tactical; | No | No | ||
| HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC | Opportunistic and Tactical; | No | No | ||
| Intermediate Capital Group PLC | Opportunistic and Tactical; | No | No | ||
| Marathon Asset Management LP | Opportunistic and Tactical; | No | No | ||
| Oceanwood Capital Management LLP | Opportunistic and Tactical; | No | No | ||
| Pacific Investment Management Company LLC | Opportunistic and Tactical; | No | No | ||
| PanAgora Asset Management Inc | Opportunistic and Tactical; | No | No | ||
| Pinnacle Asset Managerment LLC | Opportunistic and Tactical; | No | No | ||
| Strategic Value Partners | Opportunistic and Tactical; | No | No | ||
| Wellington Management Company LLP | Global Infrastructure; | Yes | Yes | ||
| Brookfield Asset Management | Global Infrastructure; | Yes | No | ||
| DigitalBridge Group Inc | Global Infrastructure; | No | No | ||
| Fiera Infrastructure Inc | Global Infrastructure; | Yes | Yes | ||
| Global Infrastructure Partners | Global Infrastructure; | No | No | ||
| Harrison Street Real Estate Capital LLC | Global Infrastructure; | No | No | ||
| Industry Fund Management Pty Ltd | Global Infrastructure; | No | No | ||
| JP Morgan Investment Management Inc | Global Real Estate; | Yes | No | ||
| Almanac Realty Investors LLC | Global Real Estate; | No | No | ||
| Beacon Capital Partners LLC | Global Real Estate; | No | No | ||
| BlackRock Institutional Trust Co NA | Global Real Estate; | Yes | No | ||
| Blackstone Inc | Global Real Estate; | No | No | ||
| The Carlyle Group | Global Real Estate; | No | No | ||
| CBRE Global Investors LLC | Global Real Estate; | Yes | No | ||
| Clarion Partners LLC | Global Real Estate; | No | No | ||
| Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management | Global Real Estate; | No | No | ||
| GI Partners | Global Real Estate; | No | No | ||
| IFC Core Farmland Fund LP | Global Real Estate; | No | No | ||
| JP Morgan Investment Management Inc | Global Real Estate; | Yes | No | ||
| LubertAdler Management Company LP | Global Real Estate; | No | No | ||
| Mesa West Capital LLC | Global Real Estate; | No | No | ||
| Patrizia AG | Global Real Estate; | Yes | No | ||
| Pretium Partners LLC | Global Real Estate; | No | No | ||
| Prudential Real Estate | Global Real Estate; | No | No | ||
| UBS Realty Investors LLC | Global Private Equity; | Yes | Yes | ||
| Altas Partners GP LP | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| Bridgepoint Advisers Limited | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| The Carlyle Group | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| Charterhouse Capital Partners | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| Cinven Capital Management Ltd | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| Coller Investment Management Ltd | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| FdG Associates LLC | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| Ford Financial Fund LP | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| Francisco Partners Management LP | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| Freeman Spogli Management Co LP | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| Graham Partners | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| JP Morgan Investment Management Inc | Global Private Equity; | Yes | No | ||
| KKR Credit Advisors (US) LLC | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| Kohlberg & Co | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| Leonard Green & Partners | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| Levine Leichtman Capital Partners Inc | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| Lightspeed Venture Partners | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| Mason Wells Inc | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| Monomoy Capital Partners | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| NGP Energy Capital Management LLC | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| Oaktree Capital Management LP | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| Odyssey Investment Partners | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| Primus Venture Partners | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| Quantum Energy Partners | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| Silver Lake Partners | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| Sole Source Capital | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| StepStone Group LP | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| Swander Pace Capital Partners | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| TPG Inc | Global Private Equity; | No | No | ||
| Warburg Pincus LLC | Global Private Credit; | No | No | ||
| Apollo Global Management | Global Private Credit; | No | No | ||
| Arcmont Asset Management | Global Private Credit; | No | No | ||
| Ares Management Corporation | Global Private Credit; | No | No | ||
| Barings Global Advisers Ltd | Global Private Credit; | No | Yes | ||
| The Carlyle Group | Global Private Credit; | No | No | ||
| Francisco Partners Management LP | Global Private Credit; | No | No | ||
| GoldenTree Asset Management LP | Global Private Credit; | No | No | ||
| Goldman Sachs Asset Management LP | Global Private Credit; | No | Yes | ||
| HPS Investment Partners LLC | Global Private Credit; | No | No | ||
| Invesco Credit Partners | Global Private Credit; | Yes | No | ||
| KKR Credit Advisors (US) LLC | Global Private Credit; | No | No | ||
| LBC Credit Partners | Global Private Credit; | No | No | ||
| One William Street Credit Management LP | Global Fixed Income; | No | No | ||
| Aristeia Capital LLC | Global Fixed Income; | No | No | ||
| BlackRock Institutional Trust Co NA | Global Fixed Income; | Yes | No | ||
| C S McKee LP | Global Fixed Income; | No | No | ||
| Dodge & Cox | Global Fixed Income; | No | No | ||
| Goldman Sachs Asset Management LP | Global Fixed Income; | No | Yes | ||
| JP Morgan Investment Management Inc | Global Fixed Income; | Yes | No | ||
| Johnson Investment Counsel Inc | Global Fixed Income; | No | No | ||
| Loomis Sayles & Co L P | Global Fixed Income; | No | No | ||
| Ninety One Asset Management | Global Fixed Income; | Yes | Yes | ||
| Pharo Global Advisors Ltd | Global Fixed Income; | No | No | ||
| Western Asset Management Co | Global Equity; | No | No | ||
| AllianceBernstein LP | Global Equity; | Yes | Yes | ||
| Arrowstreet Capital LP | Global Equity; | No | No | ||
| BlackRock institutional Trust Co NA | Global Equity; | Yes | No | ||
| BNY Mellon Asset Management North America | Global Equity; | No | No | ||
| Brown Capital Management Inc | Global Equity; | No | No | ||
| City of London Investment Management Co Ltd | Global Equity; | No | No | ||
| Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd | Global Equity; | No | No | ||
| DE Shaw & Co LLC | Global Equity; | No | No | ||
| GlobeFlex Capital LP | Global Equity; | No | No | ||
| JP Morgan Investment Management Inc | Global Equity; | Yes | No | ||
| LSV Asset Management | Global Equity; | No | No | ||
| Lazard Asset Management LLC | Global Equity; | Yes | Yes | ||
| Martingale Asset Management LP | Global Equity; | No | No | ||
| MFS Institutional Advisors Inc | Global Equity; | No | Yes | ||
| Neumeier Poma Investment Counsel LLC | Global Equity; | No | No | ||
| PanAgora Asset Management | Global Equity; | No | No | ||
| State Street Global Advisors Ltd | Global Equity; | Yes | No | ||
| T Rowe Price Group Inc | Global Equity; | Yes | No | ||
| Walter Scott & Partners Ltd | Global Equity; | No | No | ||
| WCM Investment Management LLC | Multi-Asset Strategies; | No | No | ||
| Nephila Capital | Multi-Asset Strategies; | No | No | ||
| Redwood Capital Management LLC | Multi-Asset Strategies; | Yes | No | ||
| Stark Offshore Management LLC | Investment Manager - Overlay Futures; | No | No | ||
Governance and accountability
| 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 |
This section features information about the nine-member board of trustees that oversees the Ohio School Employees Retirement System. The board is specific to oversight of the Ohio School Employees Retirement System and does not exercise oversight duties for other state funds.[10]
Board selection method
The board of trustees that oversees the Ohio School Employee Retirement System is made up of nine members. Four elected employee members, two elected retiree members, and three appointed investment expert members. One investment expert is appointed by the governor, a second one by the treasurer of state, and the third one jointly by the speaker of the House and president of the Senate.[10]
Board of trustees membership
A nine-member board of trustees oversees the operation and administration of SERS. The following individuals served on the board as of March 2024:[10]
- Frank Welgarz, chair
- Matthew King, vice chair
- Jeffrey T. DeLeone
- James Haller
- Catherine P. Moss
- Barbara M. Phillips
- James Rossler Jr.
- Aimee Russell
- Daniel L. Wilson
See also
- Public pensions in Ohio
- 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 Ballotpedia, "Ballotpedia: Asset management data for state-administered pension funds across the 50 states," March 2023
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 SERS, "About us," accessed March 29, 2024
- ↑ Ohio.gov, "Ohio Revised Code Chapter 3309," accessed March 29, 2024
- ↑ [https://www.ohsers.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/2023-Basic-Benefits-Actuarial-Valuation.pdf SERS, "Report on the Annual Basic Benefits Valuation of the School Employees Retirement System of Ohio," accessed March 29, 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.
- ↑ 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
- ↑ Note: NZAM announced on January 13, 2025, that it was suspending operations and removing the commitment statement and list of signatories from its website.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 SERS, "Board of Trustees," accessed January 27, 2023
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