PSRS/PEERS Receive National Public Pension Standards Awards for 14th Year in a Row

PSRS and PEERS received the Public Pension Coordinating Council's (PPCC) 2018 Public Pension Standards Awards for meeting professional standards in plan administration and funding.

PSRS has received the awards each year since 2004, and PEERS each year since 2005. Once again this year, both Systems not only met, but also substantially exceeded the requirements for both the plan funding and administration awards.

"We are honored to be recognized for our efforts to provide the best possible pension plans for our members," said PSRS/PEERS Executive Director Steve Yoakum. "The principles and standards used by the PPCC when considering plans for these awards align with our organizational goals for providing outstanding member service and retirement security."

To receive the Recognition Award for Administration, a retirement system must certify that it meets the requirements in five areas of assessment. Those areas are:

• Comprehensive Benefit Program. The system must provide a comprehensive benefit program including service retirement benefits, in-service death benefits, disability benefits, vesting and provisions for granting a cost-of-living adjustment.
• Actuarial. An actuarial valuation must be completed at least every two years using generally recognized and accepted actuarial principles and practices.
• Audit. The system must obtain an unbiased opinion from an independent audit conducted in accordance with government auditing standards generally accepted in the United States.
• Investments. The system must follow written investment policies and written fiduciary standards and the system must obtain an annual investment performance evaluation from an outside investment review entity.
• Communications. Members must be provided a handbook or summary plan description, regular updates to the documents, and an annual benefit statement. Meetings of the governing board of the system must be conducted at least quarterly with adequate public notice.

To receive the Recognition Award for Funding, a retirement system must certify that it meets the requirements for funding adequacy, as defined as meeting one or more of the following criteria:

• A funded ratio of 100% (as of June 30, 2018 PSRS was 84% funded and PEERS was 86.1% funded),
• Contribution rates equal to or greater than 100% of the Annual Required Contribution, or
• A plan has been approved by the governing body to achieve or one or both of these criteria within five years.

The PPCC is a coalition of three national associations that represent retirement systems and administrators. Combined, these associations serve retirement systems that provide pension coverage for most of the nation's employees of state and local government.

They are:

• The National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA)
• The National Council on Teacher Retirement (NCTR)
• The National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS)

The Public Pension Standards reflect minimum expectations for public retirement systems management and administration, and serve as a benchmark by which all defined benefit public pension plans should be measured.