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Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System
| Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Phoenix, Arizona |
| Top official: | Scott McCarty, chair |
| Year founded: | 1968 |
| Active members: | 60,000 |
| Website: | Official website |
| Total assets under management | |
| 2023: | $19,545,087,436 |
- See also: Public pensions in Arizona
The Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System is a Arizona state pension fund that provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to the state's public safety personnel. The Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System had $19,545,087,436 ($19.5 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 Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System.
- Pension performance overview: Overview of the funding level and assets managed by the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System.
- Assets and asset management: Information about the asset management companies (AMCs) that contract with Arizona Public Safety Personnel 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 Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System's oversight board, including members and selection.
Background
- See also: Public pensions
The Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System, founded in 1968, invests the assets of and provides funding for the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS) pension plan, the Arizona Elected Officials Retirement Plan (EORP), and the Arizona Correctional Officer Retirement Plan (CORP). PSPRS, EORP, and CORP operate as defined benefit pension plans based on a formula established by Arizona state law. These plans—based on the employee's length of service and salary— provide "a uniform, consistent and equitable statewide retirement program for Arizonas public safety personnel."[2][3]
The Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System served nearly 60,000 active members, retirees, and beneficiaries as of February 2024.[2]
Pension performance overview
The following table features information about the funding level and assets managed by the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System as of June 30, 2023:[1]
| Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System pension performance (June 30, 2023) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal year | Percent funded | Unfunded liabilities | Total assets[4] |
| 2023 | 67.2% | $6,410,788,679 | $19,545,087,436 |
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.[5][6]
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.”[7]
List of AMCs contracting with the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System
The Public Safety Personnel Retirement System contracted with 29 asset management companies (AMCs) as of June 2021. Of those companies, 12 were investor participants in Climate Action 100+, and 10 were members of NZAM as of 2024. The following list identifies the AMCs (and in some cases, the specific funds) contracting with the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System as of 2023:[8]
- ABEL NOSER, NEW YORK
- ARQAAM SECURITIES LLC, DUBAI
- BARCLAYS CAPITAL INC./LE, NEW JERSEY
- BARCLAYS CAPITAL, LONDON (BARCGB33)
- CITIGROUP GBL MKTS/SALOMON, NEW YORK
- CITIGROUP GLOBAL MARKETS LTD, LONDON
- COMMERCIAL BANK OF QATAR LTD, DOHA
- CREDIT LYONNAIS SECS (ASIA), HONG KONG
- CREDIT SUISSE (EUROPE), LONDON (Climate Action 100+)
- CREDIT SUISSE, NEW YORK (CSUS) (Climate Action 100+)
- GOLDMAN SACHS (ASIA) LLC, TAIPEI (Climate Action 100+)
- GOLDMAN SACHS & CO, NY (Climate Action 100+)
- GOLDMAN SACHS INTL, LONDON (GSILGB2X) (Climate Action 100+)
- HSBC BANK PLC (MIDLAND BK)(JAC), LONDON (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- INSTINET PACIFIC LTD, HONG KONG
- J.P. MORGAN SECS LTD, LONDON (NZAM)
- J.P MORGAN SECURITIES INC, NEW YORK (NZAM)
- J.P. MORGAN SECURITIES, HONG KONG (NZAM)
- MACQUARIE BANK LTD, HONG KONG (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- MERRILL LYNCH INTL LONDON EQUITIES
- MORGAN STANLEY & CO INC, NY
- PERSHING LLC, JERSEY CITY
- ROBECO USA (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- SANTANDER INVESTMENT SEC INC, NEW YORK (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- SG SECURITIES, HONG KONG
- UBS EQUITIES, LONDON (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- UBS SECURITIES LLC, STAMFORD (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- UBS WARBURG ASIA LTD, HONG KONG (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
Governance and accountability
This section features information about the nine-member board of trustees that oversees the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System. The board is specific to oversight of the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System and does not exercise oversight duties for other state funds.[9]
Board selection method
The board of trustees that oversees the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System is made up of nine members. The trustees are appointed and serve five year terms: five are appointed by the Governor, two by the state House Speaker, and two by the state Senate President.[9]
Board of trustees membership
A nine-member board of trustees oversees the operation and administration of Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System. The following individuals served on the board as of January 2023:[9]
- Scott McCarty, chair
- Harry A. Papp, vice chair
- Christopher J. Hemmen
- Alan Maguire
- Brian Moore
- Dean M. Scheinert
- Randie Stein
- Nate Weber
- Daren Wunderle
See also
- Public pensions in Arizona
- 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 PSPRS/EORP/CORP, "Annual comprehensive financial report for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023," accessed February 5, 2023
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 PSPRS, "About," accessed February 5, 2023
- ↑ ZoomInfo, "PSPRS," accessed February 5, 2023
- ↑ 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
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "PSPRS," "Meet the Trustees," accessed February 5, 2023
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