The Public Pension Coordinating Council awarded the 2018 Public Pension Standards Award for Funding and Administration to SDCERS. The award recognizes SDCERS for meeting professional standards for plan funding and administration as set forth in the Public Pension Standards.
Recognition Award for Administration
SDCERS receives the Recognition Award for Administration due to its adherence to the five essential administrative categories:
- Comprehensive Benefit Program. The system must provide a comprehensive benefit program including service retirement benefits, in-service death benefits, disability benefits, vesting, and provisions for granting a cost-of-living adjustment.
- Actuarial. An Actuarial Valuation must be completed at least every two years using generally recognized and accepted actuarial principles and practices.
- Audit. The system must obtain an unqualified opinion from an independent audit conducted in accordance with government auditing standards generally accepted in the United States.
- Investments. The system must follow written investment policies and written fiduciary standards and the system must obtain an annual investment performance evaluation from an outside investment review entity.
- Communications. Members must be provided a handbook or summary plan description, regular updates to the documents, and an annual benefit statement. Meetings of the governing board of the system are conducted at least quarterly with adequate public notice.
Recognition Award for Funding
SDCERS receives the Recognition Award for Funding due to its funding adequacy in the plan sponsors making their Annual Required Contributions as determined by the SDCERS Board. The minimum funding standards criteria:
- Funding Ratio. A funded ratio of 100 percent;
- Annual Required Contribution. Contribution rates equal to or greater than 100 percent of the Annual Required Contribution; or
- Five Year Plan. A plan has been approved by the governing body to achieve or one or both of these criteria within five years.
The Public Pension Coordinating Council (PPCC) is a coalition of three national associations that represent public retirement systems and administrators: National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA), the National Council on Teacher Retirement (NCTR) and the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS). Together, these associations represent more than 500 of the largest pension plans in the United States serving most of the nation’s 16 million employees of state and local government.