South Dakota Retirement System

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South Dakota Retirement System (SDRS)
Basic facts
Location:	Pierre, South Dakota
Top official:	Travis Almond, executive director
Year founded:	1974
Active members:	52,504
Website:	Official website
Total assets under management
2022:	$14,500,453,104

See also: Public pensions in South Dakota

The South Dakota Retirement System (SDRS) is a South Dakota state pension fund that provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to the state's public employees. SDRS had $14,500,453,104 ($14.5 billion) in total assets under management as of June 30, 2023.

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 SDRS.
• Pension performance overview: Overview of the funding level and assets managed by SDRS.
• Assets and asset management: Information about the asset management companies (AMCs) that contract with SDRS, 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 SDRS's oversight board, including members and selection.

Background

See also: Public pensions

The South Dakota Retirement System (SDRS), founded in 1974, invests the assets of and provides funding for the retirement of the state’s full-time public school employees, state employees, the state Board of Regents members, city and county government employees, and employees of other public entities. SDRS consists of two different benefit designs: one for Foundation Members, who joined SDRS prior to July 1, 2017, and one for Generational Members, who joined SDRS on or after July 1, 2017.

SDRS served over 52,504 active members and approximately 33,281 retirees and beneficiaries as of March 2024.

Pension performance overview

The following table features information about the funding level and assets managed by the South Dakota Retirement System (SDRS) as of June 30, 2023:

South Dakota Retirement System (SDRS) pension performance (June 30, 2023)
Fiscal year	Percent funded	Unfunded liabilities	Total assets
2023	100.1%	$0	$14,500,453,104

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.

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.”

List of AMCs contracting with the South Dakota Retirement System (SDRS)

The South Dakota Retirement System (SDRS) contracted with 19 asset management companies (AMCs) or specific funds as of June 30, 2024. Of those companies, one was an investor participants 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 South Dakota Retirement System (SDRS):

South Dakota Retirement System (SDRS) 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	Climate Action 100+ signatory as of October 2024
South Dakota Investment Council	Public Equity;			No	No
Blackstone Capital Partners	Private Equity;			No	No
Blackstone Energy Partners	Private Equity;			No	No
Blackstone Real Estate Partners	Real Estate;	$11,070,949,766	74.596%	No	No
Bridgewater	Aggressive Absolute Return;	107,205,281	0.722%	No	No
Brookfield Strategic Partners	Real Estate;	173,119,045	1.166%	Yes	No
Capital International	Private Equity;	1,156,707,979	7.794%	No	No
Carlyle	Private Equity;	111,785,645	0.753%	No	No
Cinven	Private Equity;	296,238,368	1.996%	No	No
CVC	Private Equity;	2,528,047	0.017%	No	No
EnCap Energy Capital	Private Equity;	28,985,365	0.195%	No	No
Lone Star Real Estate	Real Estate;	231,558,066	1.560%	No	No
Pinebridge	Private Equity;	283,340,746	1.909%	Yes	No
Riverstone	Private Equity;	60,467,607	0.407%	No	No
Rockpoint Real Estate	Real Estate;	116,756,778	0.787%	No	No
Sanders Capital	Public Equity;	2,423,071	0.016%	No	Yes
Silver Lake	Private Equity;	69,927,961	0.471%	No	No
Starwood Real Estate	Real Estate;	129,253,653	0.871%	No	No
Telsey	Aggressive Absolute Return;	105,754,518	0.713%	No	No

Governance and accountability

This section features information about the 17-member board of trustees that oversees the South Dakota Retirement System (SDRS). The board is specific to oversight of SDRS and exercises oversight duties for both the Foundation member plan and the Generational member plan.

Board selection method

The board of trustees that oversees SDRS is made up of 17 members. The board is made of members of the governing body of a municipality or other individuals appointed by the governing body to represent it; members of the retirement and pension system selected by the membership, equal to the number of governing body representatives; and one resident of the municipality who is not an official or employee of the municipality, who is to be nominated and approved by a majority vote of the trustees aforementioned.

Board of trustees membership

A 17-member board of trustees oversees the operation and administration of SDRS. The following individuals served on the board as of May 2024:

• Eric Stroeder, chair
• James Appl, vice chair
• Annette Brant
• Penny Brunken
• Matt Clark
• Kathryn Greeneway
• LaJena Gruis
• Myron Johnson
• Jill Lenards
• Kevin Merrill
• Henry Prim
• Mark Salter
• Darin Seeley
• David Smith
• James Terwilliger
• Wesley Tschetter
• Douglas Wermedal

See also

• Public pensions in South Dakota
• 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

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Footnotes

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