Investing for the Future

PERA Investment Stewardship

Stewardship is at the heart of PERA's mission to provide retirement security for our members while ensuring the sustainability of the Fund.

Our Approach

Colorado PERA's overall approach to investment stewardship is straightforward:

Seek out quality investments that are expected to provide the best risk-adjusted returns to PERA's portfolio over the long term. We break down this approach to financial sustainability into four parts.

PROTECT Protect members' interests by watching costs
INTEGRATE Integrate relevant factors into PERA's investment strategy
ADVOCATE Advocate for robust markets
EVALUATE Evaluate exposures and recognize limitations

Protect

PERA protects members' interests through cost-conscious investing

We offer members multiple low-cost options to invest their own retirement savings beyond the pension plan.

Lower Fees = More Savings

2011
0.66%
2021
0.15%
77%
All-in Fee Decrease in PERA's 401(k) Plan
$65 million
Annual savings by managing assets
internally
62%
Total fund assets
managed in-house
0.04%
Costs PERA less than 1%
of total assets

We use internal investment experts, where appropriate, to save money while adding value for our members.

We seek quality services at fair costs that enable us to make better spending decisions in managing assets on behalf of our members.

Distinct costs for equity trading and research services are known. With explict costs known for trading and research, the value of each service can be properly evaluated. Equity managers can efficiently access the most valuable research and trading from different brokers of choice. Selecting different brokers for individual services based on their respective advantages in research and trading service can mitigate conflicts of interest and improve outcomes for investors.

Integrate

PERA integrates financially relevant factors into our investment decisions

We consider a mosaic of dynamic risk and opportunity factors that can financially impact our investments.

No single risk factor dominates an investment decision

Risks are not without opportunity, and investors expect to be compensated for taking on risk

Regulation & Legislation Supply & Demand Technology & Innovation

We anticipate and react to market drivers.
We don't drive markets.

We exercise our right to vote on important matters that can affect a public company's long-term profitability and the investments we make on behalf of our members.

Learn more about the PERA Board's stance on various environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters in its Proxy Voting Policy.

>220
Proposals seeking ESG disclosure voted
in 2021
~69,000
Proxy proposals
voted in 2021

Advocate

PERA advocates for robust financial markets that benefit investors

We help safeguard the integrity of our members' retirement portfolios by encouraging stronger market integrity.

WE BELIEVE

  • Markets that treat participants in a fair and equitable manner are beneficial to all long-term investors.
  • Aligned interests of companies and investors are paramount to company success in the long run.
  • As owners and creditors of a business, investors deserve robust and accurate information on financial and operational results.

We serve on advisory boards of the majority of eligible private market funds in which we invest to advance best practices.

73%
Private Equity
79%
Real Estate
80%
Alternatives

We lend our expertise to finance industry councils to promote best practices in:

  • Market structure reform
  • Corporate governance
  • Investor education
  • Disclosure standards

Evaluate

PERA evaluates our portfolio and underlying exposures on an ongoing basis

We monitor the performance of our investments as we work to maximize risk-adjusted returns to the portfolio over the long-term.

$86 billion
Generated by PERA's investments over the past 30 years
10.9%
Annualized 10-year return on PERA's investments
13.3%
Annualized 5-year return on PERA's investments

See the full Investment Stewardship Report for more details on underlying exposures in the portfolio.