Statement From PSERS Board Chairman Chris Santa Maria on 2022 System Highlights

While we operate on a fiscal year, I think a statement at the end of the calendar year for the past 12 months would be appropriate.

• In January, we concluded our nine-month investigation into the risk-share miscalculation of 2020 and learned from it.
• In March, we took action to remove our investments, albeit small relative to the overall fund, from Russia and Belarus in response to the atrocities committed against Ukraine.
• This past spring, we transitioned to new leadership in the positions of Executive Director, Chief Counsel and soon Chief Investment Officer. We accepted the study of our governance and policies by the Funston Group and began implementation of best practice reforms, including: restructuring of board committees, an enterprise risk management report and developing a new Chief Compliance Officer position.
• This fall, we were happy to report that PSERS had a net positive return for fiscal year 2021-22 when our peers averaged over 5% net losses for the same period, putting us in the top percentile of fund performance.
• Today, we are able to end the year by lowering – lowering – the employer contribution rate by 126 basis points, which will save school districts across the Commonwealth millions of dollars.
• In summary, PSERS is poised to enter the New Year in a better position than last year and with the pieces in place to keep the promise to our members and become a leader among large public pensions.
  

About the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System

PSERS, founded in 1917, began operations in 1919 to oversee a statewide defined benefit pension plan for public school employees. PSERS' role expanded upon the passage of Act 5 of 2017 to include oversight of two new benefit options consisting of defined benefit and defined contribution (DC) components and a stand-alone DC plan. As of June 30, 2022, PSERS had total net assets of $71.2 billion and a membership of about 248,000 active, 247,000 retired school employees and 27,000 vested inactive members.

###