Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan
| Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan (OPSRP) | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Tigard, Oregon |
| Top official: | Kevin Olineck, executive director |
| Year founded: | 2003 |
| Active members: | 153,991 |
| Website: | Official website |
| Total assets under management | |
| 2022: | $10.9 billion |
- See also: Public pensions in Oregon
The Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan (OPSRP) is a Oregon state pension fund under the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) that provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to the state's public employees hired after August 28, 2003. OPSRP had $10.9 billion in total assets under management as of June 30, 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 OPSRP.
- Pension performance overview: Overview of the funding level and assets managed by OPSRP.
- Assets and asset management: Information about the asset management companies (AMCs) that contract with OPSRP, 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 OPSRP's oversight board, including members and selection.
Background
- See also: Public pensions
The Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan (OPSRP), founded in 2003, invests the assets of and provides funding for the retirement of Oregon's state employees. OPSRP is a defined benefit plan that uses a formula to calculate monthly payments upon retirement.[2]
OPSRP served over 153,991 active members as of March 2024 and approximately 11,514 retirees and beneficiaries as of September 2023.[2][1]
Pension performance overview
The following table features information about the funding level and assets managed by the Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan (OPSRP) as of September 29, 2023:[1]
| Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan pension performance (September 29, 2023) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal year | Percent funded | Unfunded liabilities | Total assets[3] |
| 2022 | 76% | $3.5 billion | $ 10.9 billion |
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.[4][5]
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.”[6]
List of AMCs contracting with the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System (PERS)
The Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan (OPSRP) is a sub-fund within the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System (PERS). PERS administers OPSRP, among other retirement and benefit plans for the public employees of Oregon. OPSRP does not contract with its own AMCs; the AMCs for PERS account for all the pension plans it administers.[7]
The Oregon Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) contracted with 333 asset management companies (AMCs) or specific funds as of June 30, 2021. Of those companies, 16 were investor participants in Climate Action 100+, and 27 were members of NZAM, as of 2024. The following list identifies the AMCs (and in some cases, the specific funds) contracting with PERS:[8]
Governance and accountability
This section features information about the five-member board of trustees that oversees the Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan (OPSRP), titled the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System Board of Trustees. The board is not specific to oversight of PERS and exercises oversight duties for other state funds.[9]
Board selection method
The board of trustees that oversees the Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan (OPSRP), titled the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System Board of Trustees, is made up of five members. Per Oregon state law, three of the five trustees must not be members of PERS and must have business management, pension management, or investing experience; one trustee must hold a management position in a state organization or they must be an elected official in a participating employer that is not the state; and one trustee must represent public employees and retirees.[9]
Board of trustees membership
A five-member board of trustees, titled the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System Board of Trustees, oversees the operation and administration of the Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan (OPSRP). The following individuals served on the board as of March 2024:[9]
- Sadhana Shenoy, board chair
- Stephen Buckley, vice chair
- Jardon Jaramillo
- John Scanlan
- Suzanne Linneen
See also
- Public pensions in Oregon
- 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 Oregon.gov, "Year-End 2022 Actuarial Valuation Results Oregon Public Employees Retirement System," March 26, 2024
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Oregon.gov, "OPSRP overview and benefit calculation," March 26, 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
- ↑ This information is sourced from research performed by Ballotpedia staff.
- ↑ Ballotpedia, "Ballotpedia: Asset management data for state-administered pension funds across the 50 states," March 2023
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Oregon,gov, "PERS board members," March 26, 2024
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