South Carolina § 9-16-330 - Statement of actuarial assumptions and investment objectives; delegation of final authority to invest; components of plan; diversification; verification of investment facts; analysis and recommendations.

§ 9-16-330. Statement of actuarial assumptions and investment objectives; delegation of final authority to invest; components of plan; diversification; verification of investment facts; analysis and recommendations.

(A) The commission shall provide the chief executive officer and the chief investment officer with a statement of general investment objectives. The commission also shall provide the chief executive officer and the chief investment officer with a statement of actuarial assumptions developed by the system's actuary and approved by the board. The commission shall review the statement of general investment objectives annually for the purpose of affirming or changing it and advise the chief executive officer and the chief investment officer of its actions. The retirement system shall provide the commission, its chief executive officer, and chief investment officer that data or other information needed to prepare the annual investment plan.

(B)(1) Notwithstanding Section 9-16-30(A), the commission's statement of general investment objectives may include a delegation to the chief investment officer of the final authority to invest an amount not to exceed:

(a) two percent of the total value of portfolio assets for each investment, if the investment is in assets that are publicly tradeable and the investment provides for liquidity in ninety days or less; or

(b) one percent of the total value of portfolio assets for each investment, if the investment is in assets that are not publicly tradeable or the investment's liquidity provision is greater than ninety days.

(2) Any final authority delegated to the chief investment officer pursuant to this subsection must be exercised subject to the oversight of the chief executive officer. The closing documentation of an investment made pursuant to this delegation must include the chief executive officer's certification that the investment conforms to the amount and the extent of the delegation. The closing documentation of any investment also must include the chief executive officer's certification that the decision to make the investment is based on pecuniary factors and is not being made to promote, further, or achieve any nonpecuniary goal, objective, or outcome. Any authority exercised pursuant to this section must be exercised in a manner consistent with the limitations imposed by this section and investments may not be divided into smaller amounts in order to avoid these limitations. The commission must be notified of an investment made pursuant to any delegated authority within three business days of the investment's closing and the investment must be reviewed with the commission at its next regularly scheduled meeting. The commission may amend, suspend, or revoke the delegation of the final authority to invest at any time and may place stricter limits on any delegated authority than those provided in this subsection.

(C) The annual investment plan must be consistent with actions taken by the commission pursuant to subsection (A) and must include, but is not limited to, the following components:

(1) general operational and investment policies;

(2) investment objectives and performance standards;

(3) investment strategies, which may include indexed or enhanced indexed strategies as the preferred or exclusive strategies for equity investing, and an explanation of the reasons for the selection of each strategy;

(4) industry sector, market sector, issuer, and other allocations of assets that provide diversification in accordance with prudent investment standards, including desired rates of return and acceptable levels of risks for each asset class;

(5) policies and procedures providing flexibility in responding to market contingencies;

(6) procedures and policies for selecting, monitoring, compensating, and terminating investment consultants, equity investment managers, and other necessary professional service providers;

(7) methods for managing the costs of the investment activities; and

(8) a detailed description of the amount and extent of the final authority to invest made by the commission pursuant to subsection (B).

(D) In developing the annual investment plan, the chief investment officer shall:

(1) diversify the investments of the retirement systems, unless the commission reasonably determines that, because of special circumstances, it is clearly not prudent to do so; and

(2) make a reasonable effort to verify facts relevant to the investment of assets of the retirement systems.

(E) Before the implementation of delegation of final investment authority from the commission to the chief investment officer, the commission's external investment consultant shall provide an analysis of the extent of investment authority delegation in other public pension funds, including resulting investment performance, and recommendations regarding policy parameters to govern investment authority delegation. The analysis and recommendations must be completed and provided to the commission before the implementation of delegation of final investment authority to the chief investment officer.

HISTORY: 1998 Act No. 371, SECTION 2, eff May 26, 1998; 2005 Act No. 153, Pt IV, SECTION 3, eff July 1, 2005; 2017 Act No. 13 (H.3726), Pt. III, SECTION 11, eff July 1, 2017; 2024 Act No. 103 (H.3690), SECTION 6, eff February 5, 2024.

Editor's Note

2024 Act No. 103, SECTION 1, provides as follows:

"SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the 'ESG Pension Protection Act'."

Effect of Amendment

2024 Act No. 103, SECTION 6, made a nonsubstantive change in (A); and in (B)(2), inserted the third sentence.