SLS 17RS-346 ENGROSSED 2017 Regular Session SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 39 BY SENATOR MILKOVICH RETIREMENT SYSTEMS. Urges and requests the systems to report certain investment information including amounts paid to investment professionals. 1 A RESOLUTION 2 To urge and request each state retirement system to provide the Senate Committee on 3 Retirement with comprehensive quarterly reports on the funds invested, a listing of 4 each investment and with whom, the returns on each investment and the fees paid for 5 services related to that investment, the methodology by which the fees are calculated, 6 and to whom paid, commencing with the quarter beginning on July 1, 2017. 7 WHEREAS, the state of Louisiana maintains four state retirement systems for public 8 employees, namely the Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System, the Teachers' 9 Retirement System of Louisiana, the Louisiana School Employees' Retirement System, and 10 the State Police Retirement System, hereinafter referred to as "retirement systems"; and 11 WHEREAS, Article X, Section 29, of the Louisiana Constitution provides a 12 guarantee of benefits for members of the retirement systems and also requires the state to 13 appropriate funds to pay the annual normal costs of the retirement systems and the annual 14 cost of amortizing the retirement systems' unfunded accrued liabilities; and 15 WHEREAS, the three primary sources of funding for each retirement system are 16 employee contributions, employer contributions, and earnings on the investment of the 17 system's assets; and Page 1 of 3 Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law; words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SR NO. 39 SLS 17RS-346 ENGROSSED 1 WHEREAS, for each system, the employee contribution rates are fixed by statute, 2 but the employer contribution rate fluctuates from year to year and is set based on the rate 3 of return the system earns on its investment of assets, thus making the employer contribution 4 dependent on the skill and expertise exercised by the systems' board of trustees in managing 5 and investing their assets; and 6 WHEREAS, retirement system board members rely upon the counsel and guidance 7 of investment advisors, consultants, and managers in making investment decisions, and such 8 decisions directly impact the state general fund and funding by local school districts, the 9 employer contribution rates required to fund the retirement systems, and the ability to 10 provide permanent benefit increases to retirees and their survivors; and 11 WHEREAS, the Senate has monitored the investments of the retirement systems for 12 over a decade by reviewing the reports submitted pursuant to Senate Resolution No. 175 of 13 the 2005 Regular Session of the Legislature. 14 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that each retirement system is urged and 15 requested to provide the Senate Committee on Retirement with comprehensive quarterly 16 reports detailing the amount of funds invested, a listing of each investment and with whom, 17 the returns on each investment and the fees paid by the retirement system for services related 18 to that investment for the quarter and for the plan year to date, the methodology by which 19 the fees are calculated, and to whom paid, commencing with the quarter beginning on 20 July 1, 2017. For all private assets, the reported methodology by which the fees are 21 calculated shall not include any proprietary or trade secret information, or any information 22 the disclosure of which could cause a competitive disadvantage in the pricing of investment 23 services related to such assets. 24 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of each retirement system's report shall 25 be made available on the official website of that system. 26 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Resolution shall replace Senate Resolution 27 No. 175 of the 2005 Regular Session of the Legislature and the reports required pursuant to 28 that Resolution shall cease following the submission of the reports for the quarter ending 29 June 30, 2017. Page 2 of 3 Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law; words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SR NO. 39 SLS 17RS-346 ENGROSSED 1 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the 2 Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System, the Teachers' Retirement System of 3 Louisiana, the Louisiana School Employees' Retirement System, and the State Police 4 Retirement System. The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Margaret M. Corley. DIGEST SR 39 Engrossed 2017 Regular Session Milkovich To urge and request each state retirement system to provide the Senate Committee on Retirement with a full quarterly report on the funds invested. Page 3 of 3 Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law; words in boldface type and underscored are additions.