Pennsylvania § 8538 - Public Pension Management and Asset Investment Review Commission.

§ 8538. Public Pension Management and Asset Investment Review Commission.

(a) Establishment.--A Public Pension Management and Asset Investment Review Commission shall be established, which shall be composed of five appointees, one appointed by each of the following:

(1) The Governor.

(2) The President pro tempore of the Senate.

(3) The Minority Leader of the Senate.

(4) The Speaker of the House of Representatives.

(5) The Minority Leader of the House of Representatives.

The appointees shall be investment professionals and retirement advisors and shall be appointed within 90 days of the effective date of this section.

(b) Duties.--The duties of the Public Pension Management and Asset Investment Review Commission are as follows:

(1) Study the performance of current investment strategies and procedures of the Public School Employees' Retirement System, comparing realized rates of return to established benchmarks and considering associated fees paid for active and passive management.

(2) Study the costs and benefits of both active and passive investment strategies in relation to future investment activities of the Public School Employees' Retirement System.

(3) Study alternative future investment strategies with available assets of the Public School Employees' Retirement System that will maximize future rates of return net of fees.

(3.1) The commission shall evaluate and make recommendations on:

(i) Improving investment fee transparency on alternative investments as specified in the Standardized Reporting Guidelines of the Institutional Limited Partners Association.

(ii) Implementing the recommendations of the Society of Actuaries Blue Ribbon Panel on stress testing, to test the ability of the plan to withstand a period of investment returns above or below the level of assumed return.

(4) Publish extensive and detailed findings online, including findings about:

(i) Assets.

(ii) Returns.

(iii) Financial managers.

(iv) Consultants.

(v) Requests for proposals.

(vi) Investment performance measured against benchmarks.

(5) Recommend the lowest amount of investment fees to be paid by the board for the board to achieve the board's anticipated annual rate of return and to develop recommendations to reduce expenditures to generate actuarial savings of $1,500,000,000 over 30 years from the effective date of this section.

(6) Report its findings and recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly within six months of its first organizational meeting.

(c) Quorum.--A majority of appointed members shall constitute a quorum for the purpose of conducting business. The members shall select one of their number to be chairperson and another to be vice chairperson.

(d) Transparency and ethics.--The Public Pension Management and Asset Investment Review Commission shall be subject to the following laws:

(1) The act of February 14, 2008 (P.L.6, No.3), known as the Right-to-Know Law.

(2) The former act of July 3, 1986 (P.L.388, No.84), known as the Sunshine Act.

(3) The act of October 4, 1978 (P.L.883, No.170), known as the Public Official and Employee Ethics Law.

(4) The act of July 19, 1957 (P.L.1017, No.451), known as the State Adverse Interest Act.

(e) Information gathering.--The Public Pension Management and Asset Investment Review Commission may conduct hearings and otherwise gather pertinent information and analysis that it considers appropriate and necessary to fulfill its duties.

(f) Logistical and other support.--The Public Pension Management and Asset Investment Review Commission shall receive logistical and other support from the Joint State Government Commission and may employ additional temporary staff as needed.

(g) Reimbursement.--The members of the Public Pension Management and Asset Investment Review Commission shall be reimbursed for reasonable expenses.

(h) Expiration.--The Public Pension Management and Asset Investment Review Commission shall expire 60 days after delivery of its report in accordance with subsection (b)(5). Any unspent appropriation shall lapse back to the General Fund.

(June 12, 2017, P.L.11, No.5, eff. imd.)

2017 Amendment. Act 5 added section 8538.