Maryland Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension System

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Maryland Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension System
Basic facts
Location:	Baltimore, Maryland
Top official:	Dereck E. Davis, chair
Year founded:	1990
Active members:	2,877
Website:	Official website
Total assets under management
2023:	$1,481,154,000

See also: Public pensions in Maryland

The Maryland Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension System (LEOPS) is a Maryland state pension fund that provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to the state's law enforcement and the law enforcement of participating localities. LEOPS had $1,481,154,000 ($1.5 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 LEOPS.
• Pension performance overview: Overview of the funding level and assets managed by LEOPS.
• Assets and asset management: Information about the asset management companies (AMCs) that contract with LEOPS, 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 LEOPS's oversight board, including members and selection.

Background

See also: Public pensions

The Maryland Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension System, founded in 1990, is a sub-fund under the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System (MSRPS). It invests the assets of and provides funding for the state's law enforcement officers and the law enforcement of county and municipal employers who have elected to participate in LEOPS. It operates as a defined benefit plan.

LEOPS served over 2,877 active members and approximately 2,512 retirees and beneficiaries as of June 30, 2023.

Pension performance overview

The following table features information about the funding level and assets managed by the Maryland Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension System as of June 30, 2023:

Maryland Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension System pension performance (June 30, 2023)
Fiscal year	Percent funded	Unfunded liabilities	Total assets
2023	56.08%	$324,396,000	$1,481,154,000

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 Maryland Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension System

The Maryland Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension System (LEOPS) is a sub-fund under the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System (MSRPS). MSRPS administers LEOPS, among other retirement and benefit plans for the governmental workers of Maryland. LEOPS does not contract with its own AMCs; the AMCs for MSRPS account for all the pension plans it administers.

MSRPS contracted with 31 asset management companies (AMCs) or specific funds as of June 30, 2021. Of those companies, six were investor participants in Climate Action 100+, and five were members of NZAM, as of 2024. The following list identifies the AMCs (and in some cases, the specific funds) contracting with MSRPS:

• AQR Capital Management, LLC
• Artisan Partners Limited Partnership
• Attucks Asset Management, LLC
• Axiom International Investors (Climate Action 100+)
• Baillie Gifford & Company (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
• Brown Capital Management
• Capital Prospects, LLC
• Credit Suisse Asset Management (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
• DE Shaw & Co., LP
• Dimensional Fund Advisors, Inc.
• Dodge & Cox
• Double Line US Securitized
• Durable Capital Partners
• Equity Long Short
• FIS Group, Inc.
• Internally Managed
• Leading Edge Invest. Advisors, LLC
• Longview Partners Ltd.
• Marshall Wace (Climate Action 100+)
• MetLife Investment Management
• Pacific Investment Management Company
• Pine Bridge Investments LLC
• Polunin Capital Management (Climate Action 100+)
• Record Currency Management
• RhumbLine Advisors
• RWC Partners Emerging Markets
• State Street Global Advisors (NZAM)
• T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. (NZAM)
• TT International (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
• Western Asset Management
• Westwood Global Investment

Governance and accountability

This section features information about the 15-member board of trustees that oversees the Maryland Law Enforcement Officers' Pension System (LEOPS). The board is not specific to oversight of LEOPS and exercises oversight duties for other state funds.

Board selection method

The board of trustees overseeing LEOPS comprises 15 members who are either elected, appointed, or serve ex officio.

The board comprises three ex officio members including the Secretary of Budget and Management, the State Comptroller, and the State Treasurer.

The elected members include one active member and one retiree of the Correctional Officers’ Retirement System, the Employees’ Pension System, the Employees’ Retirement System, the Judges’ Retirement System, the Legislative Pension Plan, the Local Fire and Police System, or the Law Enforcement Officers’ Pension Plan; one active and one retired member of the Teachers' Pension System; one active or one retired member of the State Police Retirement System.

The appointed members include a representative of the interests of participating governmental units in the Employees’ Pension System and the Employees’ Retirement System; a representative of the interests of county governments who has at least 10 years of experience in financial management and oversight of county government budgets; and five representatives of public interests that are not members of any of the systems and who do not have conflicting interests as specified in the establishing statute. The Governor appoints the positions with the consent of the Maryland Senate.

Board of trustees membership

A 15-member board of trustees oversees the operation and administration of LEOPS. The following individuals served on the board as of August 2024:

• Dereck E. Davis, chair
• Brooke Lierman, vice chair
• Jamaal R. A. Craddock
• James P. Daly, Jr.
• Ayana K. English-Brown
• Helene Grady
• Sheila Hill
• Charles Hopkins
• Richard E. Norman
• Mia N. Pittman, CFA
• Douglas Prouty
• Michelle Rhodes Brown
• Tarrus Richardson
• Robert F. Sandlass, Jr.
• Martin Noven

See also

• Public pensions in Maryland
• 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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