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Colorado
PERA Mission and Vision Statements
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Vision
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To
become the retirement plan of choice for all Colorado
public employees.
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Mission
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To
promote long-term financial security for our membership
while maintaining the stability of the fund.
Guiding
Principles:
We
will deliver quality customer service, sound investment
decisions, operational efficiency, educational programs,
competitive plan design, and actively participate in
legislative issues that affect our organization.
All
activities undertaken will adhere to the guiding
principles of customer focus, ethical conduct,
accountability, excellence and ongoing process
improvement.
Colorado
PERA
Overview
Highlights for the year 2008
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Benefit Recipients |
81,248 |
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Active Members |
190,684 |
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Service Retirements |
4,330 |
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Disability Retirements |
118 |
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Benefit Payments |
$2,595,238 |
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Average
Monthly Benefit |
$2,772 |
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Employer Contributions |
$863,541,000 |
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Member Contributions |
$716,982,000 |
About PERA
PERA provides
retirement and other benefits to the employees of more than 400 government agencies and public entities in the state of
Colorado. PERA is the 23rd largest public pension plan in the
United States.
Established by State
law in 1931, PERA operates by authority of the Colorado General
Assembly and is administered under Title 24, Article 51 of the
Colorado Revised Statutes. In accordance with its duty to
administer PERA, the Board of Trustees has the authority to
adopt and revise Rules in accordance with state statutes. (Click
here to view PERA Law and
PERA
Rules.)
Its
membership includes employees of the Colorado state government, public school teachers in the state, many university and college
employees, judges, many employees of cities and towns, state
troopers, and the employees of a number of other
public entities. More information on the PERA membership is
available on the
Colorado PERA Members and Benefit Recipients by County fact
sheet.
PERA
is a substitute for
Social Security for most of these public employees. Benefits are
pre-funded, which means while a member is working, he or she is required to contribute a fixed percentage of their salary to the
retirement trust funds. This percentage is 8 percent for most members.
The employer also contributes a percentage of pay to the trust
fund. For most employers, this is approximately 11.15 percent of pay.
The trust funds are
then invested by PERA under the direction of a board of
trustees. PERA's investment strategy uses actuarially established
investment objectives with long-term goals and
policies.
PERA's
Board of Trustees are fiduciaries and are held to a high standard of
prudence in investing the trust funds. By State law, the management of
the public employees' retirement funds are vested in PERA's
16-member Board of Trustees. As a result of
legislation enacted in 2006, the State Auditor ex officio position
was eliminated effective January 1, 2007. In addition, on July 1, 2007, the number of
member-elected Trustees
was lowered to 11, by replacing three previously elected Trustees
with
three Governor-appointed Trustees approved by the Senate. In May 2009, with the signing of SB 09-282, a Denver Public Schools Division member was added as a non-voting ex officio seat. The Board also includes four members from the School Division;
three members from the State Division; one member from the Local Government Division; one Judicial
Division member; two PERA retirees; and the State
Treasurer as an ex officio member.
There are approximately
230 staff members responsible for the day-to-day operations of
PERA. This staff manages the investment process, administers the
payment of benefits, and provides other support services.
A
Brief History
Founded by the
state Legislature in 1931, the Association initially provided
retirement benefits to state employees only and was called the
State Employees’ Retirement Association (SERA). By the end of
its first 10 years, SERA had more than 4,000 members, 112
retirees, and more than $1,000,000 in assets. In 1943,
legislation renamed the organization the Public Employees’
Retirement Association (PERA) and allowed cities, school districts, and
colleges to join.
For the first 20
years, investments were limited to United States Government
Bonds or Colorado state, school or municipal bonds. Rates of
return averaged 2.75 percent. Members and employers each contributed 5
percent
of salary.
By
the end of 2008, the fund
had over $29 billion in assets available for benefit payments,
with 190,684 active members and 81,248 benefit
recipients. PERA now
maintains a diversified portfolio of investments, while adhering
to a long-term, strategic asset allocation policy.
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