Tennessee Teacher Retirement Plan
| Tennessee Teacher Retirement Plan | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Nashville, Tennessee |
| Top official: | David H. Lillard, Jr., chairperson |
| Year founded: | 1972 |
| Active members: | 36,339 |
| Website: | Official website |
| Total assets under management | |
| 2023: | $823,784,465 |
- See also: Public pensions in Tennessee
The Tennessee Teacher Retirement Plan (TRP) is a Tennessee state pension fund that provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to the state's teachers and their families. TRP had $823,784,465 ($823.8 million) 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 TRP.
- Pension performance overview: Overview of the funding level and assets managed by TRP.
- Assets and asset management: Information about the asset management companies (AMCs) that contract with TRP, 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 board that oversees TRP, including members and selection.
Background
- See also: Public pensions
The Tennessee Teacher Retirement Plan (TRP), founded in 1972, is a sub-fund of the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS), which operates two hybrid defined benefit plans based on formulas established by Tennessee state law, the Teacher Retirement Plan and the State and the Higher Education Employee Retirement Plan. TRP—based on the employee's length of service and salary— provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to the state's public school teachers and their families.[2][3]
TRP served over 36,339 active members and approximately 198 retirees and beneficiaries as of June 30, 2023.[1]
Pension performance overview
The following table features information about the funding level and assets managed by the Tennessee Teacher Retirement Plan as of June 30, 2023:[1]
| Tennessee Teacher Retirement Plan performance (June 30, 2023) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal year | Percent funded | Unfunded liabilities | Total assets |
| 2023 | 96.5 | $29,968,315 | $823,784,465 |
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 Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System
The Tennessee Teacher Retirement Plan (TRP) is a sub-fund under the management of the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS). TCRS administers TRP, among other retirement and benefit plans for the public employees of Tennessee. TRP does not contract with its own AMCs; the AMCs for TCRS account for all the pension plans it administers.[7]
TCRS contracted with 20 asset management companies (AMCs) as of June 30, 2021. Of those companies or funds, two were investor participants in Climate Action 100+, and six were members of NZAM as of 2024. The following list identifies the AMCs (and in some cases, the specific funds) contracting with TCRS:[7]
- Acadian Asset Management (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- AEW Capital Management L.P.
- Aksia
- American Century Investments
- Fiera Capital (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- Heitman
- J.P. Morgan Asset Management (NZAM)
- J.P. Morgan Investment Management, Inc. (NZAM)
- L&B Realty Advisors, LLP
- Marathon Asset Management
- Mondrian Investment Partners
- PanAgora Asset Management, Inc.
- Pzena Investment Management (NZAM)
- RREEF America LLC
- State Street Corporation (NZAM)
- The Townsend Group
- TimeSqaure Capital Management
- Verus
- Walter Scott & Partners, Ltd.
- WCM Asset Management
Governance and accountability
This section features information about the 20-member board of trustees that oversees the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS), of which the Teacher Retirement Plan is a sub-fund. The board is specific to oversight of the TCRS and does not exercise oversight duties for other state funds.[8]
Board selection method
The board of trustees that oversees TCRS is made up of 20 members. Nine members serve on the board by nature of their office in Tennessee government: the chair and vice chair of the Legislative Council on Pensions and Insurance (non-voting members); the Tennessee Commissioner of Human Resources; the Tennessee Commissioner of Human Resources; the Tennessee Commissioner of Finance and Administration; the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury; the Tennessee Secretary of State; and the Tennessee Administrative Director of the Courts.
Eleven members of the board are employee representatives: three teachers, one from each grand division of the state; two state employees from departments not represented by the ex officio members; one public safety officer; three local government representatives; a retired state employee; and a retired teacher. The three teachers and one retired teacher are appointed by the Speaker of the Senate and the Speaker of the House representatives; the state employee representatives are elected by state employees; The Tennessee County Services Association, the Tennessee Municipal League, and the Tennessee County Officials Association all appoint one representative; and the public safety representative and the state retiree representative are appointed by the governor.[8]
Board of trustees membership
A 20-member board of trustees oversees the operation and administration of TCRS. The following individuals served on the board as of October 2024:[8]
- David H. Lillard, Jr., board chair
- Jim Bryson
- Tre Hargett
- Rep. Patsy Hazlewood
- Jason Mumpower
- Michelle Long
- Senator Bo Watson
- Jamie Wayman
- Juan Williams
- Lonnie C. Archer
- Michael Barker
- Michael Cox
- Tim Ellis
- Kristie G. Maxwell
- Patsy Moore
- Mark Stanfill
- Robert Wormsley
- vacant
- vacant
- vacant
See also
- Public pensions in Tennessee
- 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 Tennessee Department of Treasury, "Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System Actuarial Valuation Report as of June 30, 2023," October 2, 2024
- ↑ Tennessee Department of Treasury, TCRS Overview and Self-Service," October 2, 2024
- ↑ Tennessee Department of Treasury, "TCRS turns 50!" October 2, 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
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 This information is sourced from research performed by Ballotpedia staff. Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "BP" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Tennessee Department of Treasury, "TCRS Board of Trustees," October 2, 2024
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