The Pensioner: Looking Forward

During the board meeting on February 21, 2025, a new chair and vice chair were elected. Todd Tyler, the MoDOT active employee representative, was elected as Board Chair. Master Sergeant Wallace Ahrens, the MSHP active employee representative, was elected as Vice Chair.

Governor Mike Kehoe appointed Colonel Michael Turner as the 25th Superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol on December 26. Colonel Turner replaces retiring Colonel Eric Olson, who retired on February 1, 2025, and will now serve on the MPERS Board of Trustees as part of his duties as Superintendent.

“On behalf of MPERS’ staff, I thank Colonel Eric Olson for his service on the Board and his commitment to providing retirement security to our members,” said MPERS Executive Director Scott Simon. “We welcome Colonel Turner to the Board and look forward to the insight he will bring as a dedicated leader in law enforcement.”

An eleven-member Board of Trustees is responsible for the oversight of MPERS. The Trustees serve as fiduciaries to the members, establishing sound policies and objectives, monitoring operations, and overseeing performance with the assistance of MPERS staff and consultants. They are committed to protecting the long-term value of the System’s investment portfolio and providing benefit security for its nearly 19,000 active members, retirees, and beneficiaries.

In the last quarter of 2024, the markets were mixed as the Federal Reserve implemented additional rate cuts. Despite declines in both equity and bond markets due to inflation concerns, gains in MPERS' alternative investments helped offset losses in traditional stocks and bonds, resulting in an overall increase of 0.2% for the quarter. This brought the total return for the calendar year 2024 to nearly 12%, setting a new all-time high fund balance of $3.82 billion.

MPERS’ long-term returns continue to look strong relative to any metric. MPERS’ 5-, 10-, and 20-year returns all rank among the top of the public fund peer universe and exceed both the actuarial hurdle and policy benchmark returns.

Legislative Update

Several pension-related bills have been introduced in the 2025 legislative session. Those bills, and other pension-related bills, are listed and updated throughout the session on the Joint Committee on Public Employee Retirement's website.

Key proposals include:

• Prohibiting public pension plans from investing in entities connected with foreign adversaries.
• Addressing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) matters and proxy voting, aligning with MPERS' policy.
• Adding details to correction of error statutes and instituting a permanent buyout option for vested-former members.

MPERS benefits are administered according to the Missouri Revised Statutes (RSMo). Any changes must go through the legislative process and be signed into law by the Governor. For details about the legislative process, please see How a Bill Becomes a Law.

Retirement Deadlines

March Upcoming Events

• 18 – Pre-Retirement for Closed Plan and Year 2000 – St. Joseph – Register
• 19 – Pre-Retirement for Closed Plan and Year 2000 – St. Joseph – Register
• 31 – Deadline to submit step 1 - Notice of Retirement for May 1 retirement

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