Texas Municipal Retirement System
| Texas Municipal Retirement System | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Austin, Texas |
| Top official: | David Wescoe, executive director |
| Year founded: | 1947 |
| Active members: | 218,000 |
| Website: | Official website |
| Total assets under management | |
| 2022: | $35,500,000,000 |
- See also: Public pensions in Texas
The Texas Municipal Retirement System is a Texas state pension fund that provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to the state's city employees. The Texas Municipal Retirement System had $35,500,000,000 ($35.5 billion) in total assets under management as of December 31, 2022.[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 Texas Municipal Retirement System.
- Pension performance overview: Overview of the funding level and assets managed by the Texas Municipal Retirement System.
- Assets and asset management: Information about the asset management companies (AMCs) that contract with Texas Municipal 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 Texas Municipal Retirement System's oversight board, including members and selection.
Background
- See also: Public pensions
The Texas Municipal Retirement System, founded in 1947, invests the assets of and provides funding for the Texas Municipal Retirement System. operate as defined benefit pension plans based on a formula established by Texas state law. These plans—based on the employee's length of service and salary—provide retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to the state's city employees.[2]
The Texas Municipal Retirement System served over 218,000 active members as of April 2024.[2]
Pension performance overview
The following table features information about the funding level and assets managed by the Texas Municipal Retirement System as of December 31, 2022:[1]
| Texas Municipal Retirement System pension performance (December 31, 2022) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal year | Percent funded | Unfunded liabilities | Total assets[3] |
| 2022 | 89.7% | $250,000,000 | $35,500,000,000 |
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 Texas Municipal Retirement System
The Texas Municipal Retirement System contracted with 9 asset management companies (AMCs) or specific funds as of December 31, 2024. Of those companies, three were 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 Texas Municipal Retirement System:[7] "
| Texas Municipal Retirement System 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[8] | Climate Action 100+ signatory as of October 2024 |
| Acadian Asset Management | ; | Yes | Yes | ||
| Arrowstreet Capital | ; | No | No | ||
| Champlain Investment Partners | ; | No | No | ||
| Columbia Management Investment Advisers | ; | No | No | ||
| Ellington Management Group | ; | No | No | ||
| Northern Trust Investments | ; | No | No | ||
| Voya Investment Management | ; | No | No | ||
| Wellington Management | ; | Yes | Yes | ||
| William Blair Investment Management | ; | No | Yes | ||
"
Governance and accountability
This section features information about the six-member board of trustees that oversees the Texas Municipal Retirement System. The board is specific to oversight of the Texas Municipal Retirement System and does not exercise oversight duties for other state funds.[9]
Board selection method
The board of trustees that oversees the Texas Municipal Retirement System is made up of six members. Trustees are appointed for six-year terms by the Governor with the consent of the Senate. [9]
Board of trustees membership
A six-member board of trustees oversees the operation and administration of Texas Municipal Retirement System. The following individuals served on the board as of April 2024:[9]
- Bill Phillibert, vice chair
- David Landis
- Bob Scott
- Tommy Gonzalez
- Tricia Mirabelle
- Roy Rodriguez
See also
- Public pensions in Texas
- 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 ‘’TMRS’’, “Popular Annual Financial Report,” December 31, 2022
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 ‘’TMRS’’, “Overview,” accessed April 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
- ↑ Note: NZAM announced on January 13, 2025, that it was suspending operations and removing the commitment statement and list of signatories from its website.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 ‘’TMRS’’, “Trustees,” accessed April 26, 2024
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