A Moment with MOSERS February 2024
The MOSERS Board of Trustees met for their regular quarterly meeting on February 16, 2024. Since the official minutes of that meeting won't be available until after they are approved at the next quarterly board meeting, we are providing this summary in order to get information to you more quickly. Please watch the video above and read the information below to learn more.
Hello and welcome to this edition of A Moment with MOSERS!
On February 16th, the MOSERS Board met for their first Board meeting of 2024. The first order of business was the election of officers. Crystal Wessing was re-elected as Board Chairwoman, and Jenny Jacobs was re-elected as Vice Chair. Congratulations to Crystal and Jenny and thank you for your willingness to serve!
Most of the time at this quarter’s meeting was dedicated to the MOSERS’ investment program. As part of monitoring the long-term investment performance, the Board heard performance updates from staff and the System’s investment consultant.
For the quarter ending December 31st, the MOSERS investment return was 8.8% compared to the benchmark of 8.6%. On a FYTD basis, the portfolio returned 3.8% compared to the benchmark of 3%.
Continuing on the topic of investments, I’ve mentioned in previous updates that over the past several months, we’ve been undertaking an extensive review of MOSERS’ asset allocation with the assistance of the System’s investment consultant.
The asset allocation determines the asset classes MOSERS will invest in and is responsible for 90% of the System’s returns. After much discussion, the Board decided to make a few modifications to the current allocation – specifically, increase the exposure to growth and private assets and decrease the exposure to inflation hedge assets. Over the long term, these modifications are expected to generate more return without increasing the risk of the portfolio.
Turning to the legislative session, staff provided an update on the status of legislative bills we are currently monitoring. At this time, there are very few pension-related bills moving through the process. You can follow any bills that might impact MOSERS on our Legislation page. Each week, we post an updated legislative status report for your information. The legislative session ends on May 17th.
Along with the remainder of the legislative session, there are a number of activities coming up this spring and summer that I’d like to mention.
First, we send Annual Benefit Statements to active employees in March. Please review your statement to ensure the information we are basing your benefit on is correct and let us know if you have questions. We will notify you when your statement is ready for review in your Document Express online mailbox.
Additionally, April is MOSERS Month for active employees. The theme this year is, “The Wonderful World of Retirement,” with a nod to the Wizard of Oz. Watch your email and join in on some fun videos that will feature important retirement information.
Wherever you are in your career, we have webinars and seminars tailored to your career stage to help you learn more about the value of your MOSERS benefit. Go to our Education page and check out our New to MOSERS, Mid-Career, and Ready to Retire options. Daytime and evening sessions are available for all education sessions.
As always, you can contact one of our benefit counselors by phone or email for more information about your benefits.
Thank you for watching this edition of A Moment with MOSERS. Have a great day!