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Georgia Teachers’ Retirement System
| Georgia Teachers’ Retirement System | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Atlanta, Georgia |
| Top official: | Deborah Simonds, chair |
| Year founded: | 1943 |
| Active members: | 235,920 |
| Website: | Official website |
| Total assets under management | |
| 2023: | $99,312,538,000 |
- See also: Public pensions in Georgia
The Georgia Teachers’ Retirement System is a Georgia state pension fund that provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to teachers in the state of Georgia and their families. The Georgia Teachers’ Retirement System had $99,312,538,000 ($99.3 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 Georgia Teachers’ Retirement System.
- Pension performance overview: Overview of the funding level and assets managed by the Georgia Teachers’ Retirement System.
- Assets and asset management: Information about the asset management companies (AMCs) that contract with Georgia Teachers’ 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 Georgia Teachers’ Retirement System's oversight board, including members and selection.
Background
- See also: Public pensions
The Georgia Teachers’ Retirement System, founded in 1943, operates as a defined benefit plan based on a formula established by Georgia state law. These plans—based on the employee's length of service and salary— provide retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to teachers in the state of Georgia and their families.[1]
The Georgia Teachers’ Retirement System served over 235,920 active members and 143,468 retirees and beneficiaries as of 2023.[1]
Pension performance overview
The following table features information about the funding level and assets managed by the Georgia Teachers’ Retirement System as of June 2023:[1]
| Employees Retirement System of Georgia (June 2023) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal year | Percent funded | Unfunded liabilities | Total assets |
| 2023 | 78.2% | $27,653,328,000 | $99,312,538,000 |
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.[2][3]
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.”[4]
List of AMCs contracting with the Georgia Teachers’ Retirement System
The Georgia Teachers’ Retirement System contracted with eight asset management companies (AMCs) as of June 30, 2024. Of those companies or funds, two were investor participants in Climate Action 100+, and none were members of NZAM as of October 2024. The following list identifies the AMCs (and in some cases, the specific funds) contracting with the Georgia Teachers’ Retirement System:[5]
| Georgia Teachers’ 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[6] | Climate Action 100+ signatory as of October 2024 |
| Albritton Capital Management | ; | No | No | ||
| Barrow, Hanley, Mewhinney & Strauss | ; | No | No | ||
| Cooke & Bieler | ; | No | No | ||
| Fisher Investments | ; | No | No | ||
| MFS Institutional Advisors Inc | ; | No | Yes | ||
| Mondrian Investment Partners Limited | ; | No | Yes | ||
| Sands Caital Management | ; | No | No | ||
| WCM Asset Management | ; | No | No | ||
Governance and accountability
This section features information about the 10-member board of trustees that oversees the Georgia Teachers’ Retirement System. The board is specific to oversight of the Georgia Teachers’ Retirement System and does not exercise oversight duties for other state funds.[7]
Board selection method
The board of trustees that oversees the Georgia Teachers’ Retirement System is made up of 10 members:[7]
Governor appointees:
- two teachers who are active members,
- one school administrator who is an active member
- one active member
- one member-at-large
Trustee appointees:
- one retired member
- one non-member with investment experience
Board of regents appointee:
- one board of regents employee
Ex-officio members:
- Georgia State Auditor
- Georgia Treasurer
Board of trustees membership
A 10-member board of trustees oversees the operation and administration of the Georgia Teachers’ Retirement System. The following individuals served on the board as of June 2024:[7]
- Deborah Simonds, chair
- Jason L. Branch
- Thomas W. Norwood
- Kenneth Dyer
- Christopher A. McGraw
- Greg S. Griffin
- Steve McCoy
- Miriam Shook
- William G. Sloan
- Christopher M. Swanson
See also
- Public pensions in Georgia
- 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 1.3 api.trsga.com, “Teachers’ Retirement System of Georgia: Report of the Actuary on the Valuation," accessed September 25, 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
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 https://www.trsga.com/about-us/board-of-trustees/ TRSGA.com,’’ “Board Of Trustees,” accessed July 2, 2024]
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