Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.
Parochial Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana
| Parochial Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| Top official: | R. Bruce Kelly, chairman |
| Year founded: | 1953 |
| Active members: | 16,208 |
| Website: | Official website |
| Total assets under management | |
| 2023: | $5,357,882,290 |
- See also: Public pensions in Louisiana
The Parochial Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana (PERSLA) is a Louisiana state pension fund that provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to the state's permanent parish government employees (except those employed by Orleans, Lafourche and East Baton Rouge Parishes) working at least 28 hours per week. PERSLA had $5,357,882,290 ($5.36 billion) in total assets under management as of December 31, 2023.[1][2]
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 PERSLA.
- Pension performance overview: Overview of the funding level and assets managed by PERSLA.
- Assets and asset management: Information about the asset management companies (AMCs) that contract with PERSLA, 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 PERSLA's oversight board, including members and selection.
Background
- See also: Public pensions
The Parochial Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana (PERSLA), founded in 1953, invests the assets of and provides funding for Louisiana's permanent parish government employees (except those employed by Orleans, Lafourche and East Baton Rouge Parishes) working at least 28 hours per week. PERSLA comprises two plans: Plan A was created for employers out of Social Security and Plan B was created for employers who remained in Social Security as of January 1, 1980.[2]
PERSLA served over 13,824 active members and approximately 8,477 retirees and beneficiaries in Plan A, and 2,384 active members and 1,116 retirees and beneficiaries in Plan B as of December 31, 2023.[1]
Pension performance overview
The following table features information about the funding level and assets managed by the Parochial Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana as of December 31, 2023:[1]
| Parochial Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana Plan A pension performance (December 31, 2023) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal year | Percent funded | Unfunded liabilities | Total assets |
| 2023 | 102.92% | The annual financial report includes no value for the unfunded liabilities. | $4,906,092,553 |
| Parochial Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana Plan B pension performance (December 31, 2023) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal year | Percent funded | Unfunded liabilities | Total assets |
| 2023 | 104.28% | The annual financial report includes no value for the unfunded liabilities. | $454,789,737 |
Assets and asset management
| 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 |
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 Parochial Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana
The Parochial Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana contracted with eight asset management companies (AMCs) as of June 14, 2024. Of those companies or funds, one was an investor participant in Climate Action 100+, and two were members of NZAM as of October 2024. The following list identifies the AMCs (and in some cases, the specific funds) contracting with the Parochial Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana:
| Parochial Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana 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 |
| Loomis Sayles Core Plus Full Discretion Fund | ; | ||||
| Brandywine Global Opportunistic Fixed Income Fund | Fixed Income Fund; | 229,279,105 | 4.390% | Yes | Yes |
| Prudential Private Place Bond Separate Account (PRIVEST) | Fixed Income Fund; | 162,582,577 | 3.113% | No | No |
| Golden Tree Multi-Sector Cayman, Ltd | Fixed Income Fund; | 250,107,561 | 4.789% | No | No |
| ArrowMark Credit Fund, LP | Fixed Income Fund; | 209,642,224 | 4.014% | No | No |
| T Rowe Price Trust | Fixed Income Fund; | 219,767,504 | 4.208% | Yes | No |
Research regarding AMCs other than Fixed Income Funds contracting with the Parochial Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana (PERSLA) is pending.
Governance and accountability
This section features information about the seven-member board of trustees that oversees the Parochial Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana (PERSLA). The board is specific to oversight of PERSLA and does not exercise oversight duties for other state funds.[7]
Board selection method
The board of trustees that oversees PERSLA is made up of seven members. The board includes four active or retired members of the system who have at least 10 creditable years of service, are elected by the members of the system for six-year terms; one member, appointed by the Executive Board of the Police Jury Association of Louisiana for a four-year term; and the two Chairmen of the House and Senate Retirement Committees or their designees, who serve ex-officio, or as a term of their held office.[2][7]
Board of trustees membership
A seven-member board of trustees oversees the operation and administration of PERSLA. The following individuals served on the board as of July 2024:[7]
- R. Bruce Kelly, chairman
- Kelly Fontenot
- Phillip Bourgoyne
- Bridgette Horton
- M. Larry Richard
- Representative Josh Carlson
- Senator Bob Owen
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 Parochial Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana, "Actuarial Valuation," July 17, 2024
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Parochial Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana, "Summary of Principal Features Through the 2023 Louisiana Legislature," July 17, 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
- ↑ 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 Parochial Employees' Retirement System of Louisiana, "Board," July 17, 2024
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
