Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System

The Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System (also known as SERS or Pen SERS) is an independent administrative board of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that manages the public pension system for state employees in Pennsylvania.

Not to be confused with Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System.
Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System
Founded1923
Headquarters30 North Third Street
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Total assets$34.5 billion[1] (2020)
Websitehttp://sers.pa.gov

One of the oldest and largest statewide retirement systems for public employees in the United States,[2] it was founded on March 13, 1923[3] during the administration of Pennsylvania Governor Gifford Pinchot.[4]

History

Founded on March 13, 1923[5] during the first term of Pennsylvania Governor Gifford Pinchot, the Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System was established as part of Pinchot's efforts to reorganize state government and strengthen the state's safety net for Pennsylvania. While eliminating a $23 million state deficit and creating a retirement system for state employees, Pinchot also created an old age pension system, settled a coal mining strike in 1923, and revised laws for the care and treatment of individuals with mentally illness and developmental disabilities.[6] Assisting Pinchot in creating the Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System was Leon Henderson, who would later be referred to by newspapers as "The Paul Bunyan of Bureaucracy."[7]

In June 1980, John V. Corrigan, a former administrator of the retirement system, pleaded guilty to twenty-six counts of forgery and twenty-six counts of theft connected with his embezzlement of $366,750 from the fund. At that time, the retirement system had 127,000 active members.[8]

In early 1990, the Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System committed to providing $5 million of the goal of Frederic J. Beste III, the president and chief executive officer of NEPA Management Corp., to raise $15 to $20 million in economic development investment funds for businesses in the northeastern Pennsylvania region.[9] In 1992, the retirement system administered more than $12 billion in assets for more than 190,000 beneficiaries.[10] By 1994, "Pennsylvania's state pension funds [had] the most active program of in-state investments in the country," according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, which also noted that Pennsylvania's pension system had "committed $259.5 million to venture capital funds that invest in the state or in out-of-state companies that create jobs in Pennsylvania."[11]

In 1997, retirement system executives faced increasing pressure to divest the system from its holdings in cigarette manufacturers, tobacco companies and tobacco-related stock.[12]

In 2000, the Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System was documented as a co-owner of the Willow Grove Park Mall in Abington, Pennsylvania.[13]

Investments

As of February 2021 the fund held $30 billion in assets.[14]

See also

References
  1. "Press Release, "Penn SERS Investments Earned More Than 11% Return In 2020"" (PDF).
  2. Clark, Robert. "Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System: Historical Information for NASRA." Lexington, Kentucky: National Association of State Retirement Administrators, retrieved online January 9, 2023.
  3. "SERS Introduction". SERS Member Handbook Content. Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System. 2009-09-21.
  4. "Governor Gifford Pinchot" (biography). Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, retrieved online January 8, 2023.
  5. "SERS Introduction". SERS Member Handbook Content. Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System. 2009-09-21.
  6. "Governor Gifford Pinchot" (biography), Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
  7. "The New Deal's Fact-Finder Who Watches Prices for the Consumer." Kansas City, Missouri: The Kansas City Star, July 22, 1941, p. 16 (subscription required).
  8. "Ex-Pension Chief Sentenced." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: The Pittsburgh Press, June 17, 1980, p. 3 (subscription required).
  9. Blount, Donald. "Frederic Beste." Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, February 25, 1990, p. 195 (subscription required).
  10. "William J. Moran, 76; was Pennsylvania's first AFSCME president." Allentown, Pennsylvania: The Morning Call, August 18, 1992, p. 31 (subscription required).
  11. Ress, David. "Seed Money." Richmond, Virginia: Richmond Times-Dispatch, June 13, 1994, p. 62 (subscription required).
  12. Strader, Jim. "Hafer calls for sale of tobacco holdings." Indiana, Pennsylvania: The Indiana Gazette, April 25, 1997, p. 3 (subscription required).
  13. "Abington board approves Macy's at Willow Grove mall." Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 17, 2000, p. 83 (subscription required).
  14. DiStefano, Joseph N. "Pa. Treasurer Joe Torsella tried to reform the state's biggest pension funds. Then he lost his job". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
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