Aggregate Data
The 101 plans
There are 101 actuarially funded defined benefit public pension plans registered with the PRB. The total membership of these public retirement systems is more than 3.57 million active and retired members, and the total net assets of the plans are approximately $433 billion. The 101 plans include:
7
statewide plans including 2 cash balance plans that municipalities, counties and districts may join
17
major municipal plans including 14 in state law and 3 in local ordinance
42
local firefighter plans organized under the Texas Local Firefighters Retirement Act
35
local plans administered by special purpose districts or as supplemental plans
The following graphs summarize some of the key indicators and assumptions for Texas public pensions in the aggregate.
This graph presents the sum of the assets and liabilities of all Texas public pension plans. The funded ratio represents the assets divided by the liabilities, as shown. Figures obtained from plans' actuarial valuations; if a valuation was not completed for a particular year, the prior valuation data is used.
A plan's amortization period is the time it would theoretically take to fully fund any unfunded liability. The PRB Pension Funding Guidelines establish a maximum amortization period of not more than 30 years with a preferred target range of 10 to 25 years. Amortization periods are reported in actuarial valuations, which are conducted by Texas plans at least every 3 years according to law. Plans with a funding surplus are reported with an amortization period of zero.
The investment return assumption is a key actuarial assumption which directly impacts a plan's liability calculation and contribution requirement. A higher return assumption leads to a lower liability calculation and therefore lower contribution requirement and vice versa. In response to projected market conditions and actual plan experience, retirement systems have reduced return assumptions in recent years. Return assumptions are reported in actuarial valuations, which are conducted by Texas plans at least every 3 years according to Texas law.
Investment Expense Trends
This graph shows the average investment expenses of Texas public retirement systems as a percentage of assets for each fiscal year since plans began reporting investment expenses to the PRB in 2020. Each column is broken down by management fees paid from trust, management fees netted from returns, brokerage fees and commissions, profit sharing/carried interest, and investment services such as consulting and custodial fees. Hovering a column also shows the number of plans reporting and the asset-weighted cost, which reflects the largest systems more heavily. A year is shown once at least half as many plans have reported as in the most complete year.
Investment Expenses and Returns
Active investment management costs money, so fees and returns should be reviewed together to see whether those fees are earning a return. This graph plots each system's three-year annualized net investment return against its three-year average all-in investment cost, which includes fees netted from returns and other indirect costs that do not appear in financial statements. The dashed lines mark the Texas average assumed rate of return and the average investment cost: systems above the horizontal line earned more than the typical Texas plan assumes, and systems left of the vertical line paid less than average to do it.
In the interactive chart, the plan-type buttons show or hide each type of plan, hovering a marker shows its fee breakdown, and dragging across the chart highlights a group in both distributions. A second tab compares each plan's cost with the trend for systems of its size. The chart's figures are also in the Download Data file below.
