The monthly pension board meeting was held on 01-15-14 and the regular monthly system reports are on the OPPRS web site for your viewing.
I am happy to report our system is still performing extremely well, in fact better than initial advisor estimations! The system as of Dec. 31st was at $2,138,869,000. The system’s return on investment for the past 12 months, as of Dec 31, was 16.03%. Net of fees the return was 15.70% and exceeded the policy index which was 15.03%. This means that by having the active money managers/advisors the system contracts, OPPRS was able to provide greater returns for its members in this somewhat fickle market.
At this time there remains no legislation proposed that would affect our system or pension benefits. An annual IRS language cleanup bill has been filed in the legislature, as is done every year.
There are however, several proposed bills that could potentially negatively impact the systems of state employees and OHP. The Speaker of the House (T.W. Shannon) still has 67 “shell bills” hanging in suspension. These are bills with no present language, that could have language put in them at any time. Rest assured, these are being monitored closely.
The OPPRS Director and the Board have been told that the Governor has no plans this year to try and convert our pension to a defined contribution system or to consolidate our board. However, we will continue to monitor any bills that could affect our pension and will keep you updated.
As your Pension System Representative, contact me anytime with questions/concerns. If I don’t have the answer, I can find or know someone who does.
Jeff Pierce
State Trustee,
District 6
Oklahoma Police Pension & Retirement System