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Comment Letter by National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems, to Moody's on Adjustments to Pension Liability and Cost Information for Credit Ratings for States and Municipalities (PDF)

"While there is reference to 'relative' creditworthiness, rating should be based on the fiscal environment of each jurisdiction. Moody's is proposing to assess pension obligations through a comparative lens that does not adequately consider factors specific to an entity. These factors include funding policy, changes in plan design, contribution sources and/or contribution history. In addition, Moody's has indicated that the application of these adjustments will not only be used when assessing creditworthiness, but it will make the adjusted liabilities and cost for all states and localities public even when not determining credit ratings. NCPERS believes that such comparisons will lead to the release of flawed information."

Statement by National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems on Annuities for Employee (SAFE) Retirement Act (PDF)

"Senator Orrin Hatch's legislative proposal to turn public employee pensions over to private insurance companies is not only ill-conceived and unworkable, it completely misses the point. His legislation is nothing more than a solution in search of a problem -- and his proposal deftly directs public attention away from the real problem."

Text of Statement of National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems on Report of the State Budget Crisis Task Force (PDF)

"The Report of the State Budget Crisis Task Force ... correctly identified state and local governments' failure to keep up with required contributions in recent years as a primary cause of the current dilemma.... [T]he vast majority of public pension plans are solidly funded and are experiencing a robust recovery from the Great Recession. Three-, five-, 10- and 20-year investment returns are all on the rise - and long-term returns are far more indicative of a plan's health than short-term fluctuations.... Unfortunately, the real American retirement crisis was beyond the Task Force's portfolio - and it needs to take center stage in our national policy debate. The primary retirement savings vehicles for private-sector workers - defined contribution plans - are underfunded by over $8 trillion ... That means grave uncertainty for the futures of most 401(k) owners."

2021 NCPERS Public Retirement Systems Study (PDF)

40 pages. "NCPERS has collected and analyzed the most current data available on funds' fiscal condition and steps they are taking to ensure fiscal and operational integrity. [This study] includes responses from 156 state and local government pension funds with more than 17.7 million active and retired members and assets exceeding $2.6 trillion."

2020 NCPERS Public Retirement Systems Study (PDF)

39 pages. "Reporting funds saw, on average, 1-year returns of around 8.1 percent. The 5-year average was slightly below the assumed rate of return, while the 10-year average returns outperformed the assumption. The 20-year returns fell below the assumed rate of return as the strong performance of the late 1990s began to roll off the average.... The average investment assumed rate of return for responding funds is 7.26 percent, compared with 7.24 percent last year."

2011 NCPERS Public Retirement Systems Study (PDF)

The study's primary findings are strongly positive. Public pension funds are experiencing a robust recovery from the historic market downturn of 2008-2009 -- reporting strong investment returns, growing assets and funding levels on track to meet obligations.

2011 NCPERS Public Retirement Systems Study Preliminary Results (PDF)

Despite weak short-term investment experience in 2008 and 2009, the long-term investment discipline of fund managers has produced an average 1-year return of 13.5 percent based on most recently reported data.

2017 NCPERS Public Retirement Systems Study (PDF)

39 pages. "The market value of fund assets now exceed the actuarial value of assets for the 2017 respondents ... [A]ll responding funds report the total cost of administering their funds and paying investment managers is 55 basis points.... [F]unds that participated in both 2016 and 2017 show a drop to 52 basis points.... The average investment assumption is 7.5 percent.... [E]mployer contribution rates have risen from 18 percent of fund income in 2016 to 22 percent of fund income."

2016 NCPERS Public Retirement Systems Study (PDF)

39 pages. "Responding funds report the total cost of administering their funds and paying investment managers is 56 basis points ... a decrease of four basis point from 2015.... Almost 40 percent of responding funds have lowered their actuarial assumed rate of return, and nearly an additional 30 percent are considering lowering in the future.... Aggregated 10-year returns are reported at 6.2 percent.... The aggregated average funded level is 76.2, up from 74.1 in 2015 and 71.5 in 2014."

2012 NCPERS Public Retirement Systems Study (PDF)

"[The study] includes responses from 147 state and local government pension funds with a total number of active and retired memberships surpassing 7.5 million and assets exceeding 1.2 trillion.... The study finds that public funds continue to respond to changes in the economic, political and social landscape by adopting substantial organizational and operational changes their stakeholders to ensure long-term sustainability for their stakeholders. Efforts include increasing age and service requirements, increasing member contributions, stronger operational practices and more diligent oversight."