North Dakota Judges Retirement Plan
| North Dakota Judges Retirement Plan | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Bismarck, North Dakota |
| Top official: | Vacant Position, board chair |
| Year founded: | 1973 |
| Active members: | 57 |
| Website: | Official website |
| Total assets under management | |
| 2022: | $67,034,043 |
- See also: Public pensions in North Dakota
The North Dakota Judges Retirement Plan is a North Dakota state pension fund that provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to the state's supreme court justices and district court judges. The plan is a sub-plan within the North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System. The North Dakota Judges Retirement Plan had $67,034,043 ($67 million) in total assets under management as of June 30, 2022.[1]
The management of public pension funds can indicate support or opposition to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investment practices. ESG investing considers the extent to which corporations align with and promote certain non-financial standards, such as net carbon emission or corporate board diversity goals. States typically hire asset management companies (AMCs) to direct pension plan investments, some of which have ESG commitments that guide their strategies.
This article features the following sections:
- Background: Information about the structure and functions of the North Dakota Judges Retirement Plan.
- Pension performance overview: Overview of the funding level and assets managed by the North Dakota Judges Retirement Plan.
- Assets and asset management: Information about the asset management companies (AMCs) that contract with the North Dakota Judges Retirement Plan, including a list of contracting AMCs that are participants in the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative and the Climate Action 100+ initiative.
- Governance and accountability: Details about the North Dakota Judges Retirement Plan's oversight board, including members and selection.
Background
- See also: Public pensions
The North Dakota Judges Retirement Plan, founded in 1973, invests the assets of and provides funding for the retirement of the state's supreme court justices and district court judges. It is a defined benefit plan, wherein employees contribute 8% of their gross monthly income, and the employer contributes 17.52%.[2]
The North Dakota Judges Retirement Plan served over 57 active members and approximately 66 retirees and beneficiaries as of February 2024.[1]
Pension performance overview
The following table features information about the funding level and assets managed by the North Dakota Judges Retirement Plan as of July 1, 2023:[1]
| North Dakota Judges Retirement Plan pension performance (July 1, 2023) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal year | Percent funded | Unfunded liabilities | Total assets[3] |
| 2022 | 112.54% | $7,468,985 | $67,034,043 |
Assets and asset management
| Environmental, social, and corporate governance |
|---|
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| • What is ESG? • Enacted ESG legislation • Arguments for and against ESG • Opposition to ESG • Federal ESG rules • Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's weekly ESG newsletter |
Asset management companies (AMCs) contract with pension funds to manage asset investment. Some pension funds contract with multiple AMCs, some contract with a single AMC, and others make their own investment decisions without contracting with an AMC.
More than 300 AMCs as of December 2022 were members of the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative (NZAM), and 362 asset managers as of June 2023 were investor participants in the Climate Action 100+ initiative. Both international asset manager initiatives aim to align signatory investment decisions with the goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.[4][5]
List of AMCs contracting with the North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System
The North Dakota Judges Retirement Plan is housed in the North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System (NDPERS). NDPERS administers the North Dakota Judges Retirement Plan, among other retirement and benefit plans for the governmental workers of North Dakota.[6]
The North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System (NDPERS) contracted with 29 asset management companies (AMCs) or specific funds as of June 30, 2022. Of those companies, 10 were investor participants in Climate Action 100+, and seven were members of NZAM, as of 2024. The following list identifies the AMCs (and in some cases, the specific funds) contracting with NDPERS:[7]
- Adams Street Partners, LLC
- Ares Management LLC
- Atlanta Capital Investment Managers
- Axiom International Investors (Climate Action 100+)
- Bank of North Dakota
- Blackrock Private Equity Partners (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- Cerberus Capital Management, LP
- Dimensional Fund Advisors
- Epoch Investment Partners, Inc. (Climate Action 100+)
- Goldman Sachs Asset Management (Climate Action 100+)
- Grosvenor Capital Management
- I Squared Capital
- Invesco Realty Advisors (NZAM)
- J.P. Morgan Invest. Management, Inc. (NZAM)
- Loomis Sayles & Company
- Los Angeles Capital Management (Climate Action 100+)
- LSV Asset Management
- Macquarie Infrastructure Program (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- Northern Trust Asset Management (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- Parametric Portfolio Associates (Climate Action 100+)
- PIMCO
- Prudential Global Investment Management
- Riverbridge Partners, LLC
- Sixth Street Advisers, LLC
- State Street Global Advisors (NZAM)
- The Rohatyn Group
- Timerland Investment
- Wellington Trust Company (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
- William Blair Investment Management (Climate Action 100+)
Governance and accountability
This section features information about the 11-member board of trustees that oversees the North Dakota Judges Retirement Plan. The board, called the North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System (NDPERS) Board of Trustees, is not specific to oversight of the North Dakota Judges Retirement Plan and exercises oversight duties for other state funds.[8]
Board selection method
The board of trustees that oversees the North Dakota Judges Retirement Plan is made up of 11 members. Four members are appointed by the governor, four are legislators also appointed by the governor, and three are elected.[8]
Board of trustees membership
An 11-member board of trustees oversees the operation and administration of the North Dakota Judges Retirement Plan. The following individuals served on the board as of March 2024:[8]
- Position Vacant, board chair
- Gerald Buck
- Joe Morrissette
- Jeffry Volk
- Jason Dockter
- Greg Stemen
- Dick Dever
- Shawn Vedaa
- Tyler Erickson
- Adam Miller
- Casey Goodhouse
See also
- Public pensions in North Dakota
- Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- Areas of inquiry and disagreement related to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- Opposition to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investing
- Reform proposals related to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
- State legislative approaches opposing ESG investing
- State legislative approaches supporting ESG investing
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 NDPERS, "North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System Actuarial Valuation as of July 1, 2023," March 12, 2024.
- ↑ NDPERS, "Judges Plan Handbook," March 12, 2024.
- ↑ Note: By default, this refers to the actuarial valuation of total assets. In some cases, the total market value of assets is shown instead. See the cited source for details.
- ↑ The Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, "The Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative," accessed January 26, 2023
- ↑ Climate Action 100+, "The Three Goals," accessed June 20, 2023
- ↑ This information is sourced from research performed by Ballotpedia staff.
- ↑ Ballotpedia, "Ballotpedia: Asset management data for state-administered pension funds across the 50 states," March 2023
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 NDPERS, "NDPERS Board of Trustees," March 12, 2024.
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