South Carolina § 9-16-50 - Investment and management considerations by trustee; diversification; verification of facts; statement of investment objectives and policies.

§ 9-16-50. Investment and management considerations by trustee; diversification; verification of facts; statement of investment objectives and policies.

(A) In investing and managing assets of a retirement system pursuant to Section 9-16-40, the commission:

(1) shall consider among other circumstances:

(a) general economic conditions;

(b) the possible effect of inflation or deflation;

(c) the role that each investment or course of action plays within the overall portfolio of the retirement system;

(d) needs for liquidity, regularity of income, and preservation or appreciation of capital; and

(e) the adequacy of funding for the plan based on reasonable actuarial factors;

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

(3) shall make a reasonable effort to verify facts relevant to the investment and management of assets of a retirement system;

(4) may invest in any kind of property or type of investment consistent with this chapter and Section 9-1-1310;

(5) only shall consider pecuniary factors in making an investment decision or when allocating capital to an investment strategy.

(B) The commission shall adopt a statement of investment objectives and policies for the retirement system. The statement must include the desired rate of return on assets overall, the desired rates of return and acceptable levels of risk for each asset class, asset-allocation goals, guidelines for the delegation of authority, an explicit statement that all investment decisions must be based only on the consideration of pecuniary factors, and information on the types of reports to be used to evaluate investment performance. At least annually, the commission shall review the statement and change or reaffirm it. The relevant portion of this statement may constitute parts of the annual investment plan required pursuant to Section 9-16-330.

HISTORY: 1998 Act No. 371, SECTION 2, eff May 26, 1998; 2005 Act No. 153, Pt IV, SECTION 2, eff July 1, 2005; 2024 Act No. 103 (H.3690), SECTION 4, 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 4, in (A), rewrote (5); and in (B), in the second sentence, inserted "an explicit statement that all investment decisions must be based only on the consideration of pecuniary factors,".