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Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System
| Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System (SERS) | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Harrisburg, Pennsylvania |
| Top official: | Gregory C. Thall, board chairman |
| Year founded: | 1923 |
| Active members: | 96,395 |
| Website: | Official website |
| Total assets under management | |
| 2022: | $37,124,677,309 |
- See also: Public pensions in Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System (SERS) is a Pennsylvania state pension fund that provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to the commonwealth's public employees. SERS had $37,124,677,309 ($37.1 billion) in total assets under management as of June 6, 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 SERS.
- Pension performance overview: Overview of the funding level and assets managed by SERS.
- Assets and asset management: Information about the asset management companies (AMCs) that contract with SERS, 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 SERS' oversight board, including members and selection.
Background
- See also: Public pensions
The Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System (SERS), founded in 1923, invests the assets of and provides funding for the retirement of the commonwealth's public employees. SERS administers four plans including a defined benefit plan, a defined contribution plan, a hybrid plan, and a deferred compensation plan.[2]
SERS served over 96,395 active members and approximately 135,647 retirees and beneficiaries as of June 2023.[2]
Pension performance overview
The following table features information about the funding level and assets managed by the Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System as of June 6, 2023:[1]
| Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System pension performance (June 6, 2023) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal year | Percent funded | Unfunded liabilities | Total assets[3] |
| 2022 | 68% | $17,489,109,952 | $37,124,677,309 |
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.[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 Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System
The Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System (SERS) contracted with 40 asset management companies (AMCs) or specific funds as of June 30, 2022. Of those companies, 10 were investor participants in Climate Action 100+, and four were members of NZAM, as of 2024. The following list identifies the AMCs (and in some cases, the specific funds) contracting with SERS:[7]
- BAAM Keystone (IV)
- BlackRock Emg Mkts Index (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- BlackRock MSCI World Ex US Index (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- Brown Brothers TIPS
- Buyouts Burgiss Buyout Index (Qtr lag)
- Core/Core Plus Real Estate Funds
- Direct Lending
- Distressed Debt
- Diversified Credit
- Emerald Asset Management
- Fidelity HY CMBS (III) (Climate Action 100+)
- GlobeFlex Emerging Small Cap
- GlobeFlex Emerging Small Cap
- Growth Equity Burgiss Venture Capital Index (Qtr lag)
- Harris Assoc Int’l SCV
- Keystone Legacy (II)
- Leading Edge Emg Mkts Fund
- Leading Edge Emg Mkts Fund
- Macquarie Emg Mkts Equity (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- Martin Currie Emg Mkts Equity (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- MCM Russell 1000 Index
- MCM Russell 2000 Core Index
- MCM Russell 2000 Val Index
- Mellon Bond Index (Climate Action 100+)
- Mellon High Yield Beta Fund (Climate Action 100+)
- Mellon Intermediate Treasury Index (Climate Action 100+)
- Mellon Long Duration Index (Climate Action 100+)
- New Century Global TIPS
- New Century Global TIPS
- NISA Inv Adv TIPS
- PIMCO Core Bond Fund
- PIMCO US Treasuries
- REITS
- SEI Str. Credit: HY Bank Loans (II)(III) (Climate Action 100+)
- Special Situations Burgiss Special Situations Idx (Qtr lag)
- Value Add/Opportunistic Funds
- Value Add/Opportunistic SMA
- Walter Scott & Partners(I)
- Xponance Non-U.S. Small Cap
- Xponance Non-U.S. Small Cap
Governance and accountability
This section features information about the 11-member board of trustees that oversees the Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System (SERS). The board is specific to oversight of SERS and does not exercise oversight duties for other state funds.[8]
Board selection method
The board of trustees that oversees the Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System is made up of 11 members. The make up of the board is as follows:[8]
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Board of trustees membership
A 11-member board of trustees oversees the operation and administration of the Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System. The following individuals served on the board as of March 2024:[8]
- Gregory C. Thall, board chairman
- John M. DiSanto
- Donald Enders Jr.
- W. Russell Faber
- Dan B. Frankel
- Stacy Garrity
- J. David Henderson
- Vincent J. Hughes
- Brett R. Miller,
- Uri Monson
- Wendy S. Spicher
See also
- Public pensions in Pennsylvania
- 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 SERS.PA.gov, "Commonwealth of Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System," March 26, 2024
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 PA.gov, "Pennsylvania States Employees' Retirement System," 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
- ↑ Ballotpedia, "Ballotpedia: Asset management data for state-administered pension funds across the 50 states," March 2023
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System, "About SERS," March 26, 2024
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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