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LASERS Finanical Reports Now Available

We are pleased to announce that the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) for LASERS fiscal year ending June 30, 2014, is now available on our website. 

LASERS investment return for the fiscal year was 18.8 percent, bringing the total asset value of the System to the highest in its history. 

The CAFR, along with the Summary Annual Report or Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR) may be found here on our website. 

LASERS Restructures Investments Staff

Darren Founerat

Laney Sanders

A restructure of the LASERS investments staff was approved by the LASERS Board of Trustees at its July 25 meeting. Darren Fournerat and Laney Sanders were internally promoted to Assistant Chief Investment Officers, two new positions created to fill the Deputy Chief Investment Officer vacancy.

LASERS Chief Investment Officer Bobby Beale said, “Both Darren and Laney have been an important part of LASERS Investment Division for quite some time. They are excellent investment professionals and have earned this promotion.”

Fournerat was previously LASERS Director of Alternatives. He has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a concentration in Finance from LSU. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA).

Sanders was previously LASERS Manager of Private Equity. She has a Master of Science in Finance from LSU. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Certified Treasury Professional (CTP).

The Investments Division at LASERS manages approximately one-third of the retirement fund internally, saving millions of dollars a year in fees, and continues to be highly ranked nationally among public pension fund peer comparisons.

“We are fortunate to have the expertise of Darren Fournerat and Laney Sanders,” said LASERS Executive Director Cindy Rougeou, “and with their skills, we will continue to meet our objectives to assure the financial soundness of the System.” LASERS provides a defined benefit pension plan that covers approximately 150,000 members. LASERS pays over $1 billion in annual benefits to retirees and their beneficiaries, providing a strong and reliable economic stimulus for Louisiana.

For more information, please contact LASERS Public Information Director Tonja Normand at tnormand@lasersonline.org or 225.922.1131.

State Pension Boards Approve Change

Marsha Shuler

The Advocate

Louisiana’s two largest statewide retirement systems took a step that could reduce their long-term debts and ultimately lower the costs paid for state government retirements.

The Louisiana State Employees Retirement System and the Teachers Retirement System of Louisiana boards voted to reduce their projected annual investment returns from 8 percent to 7.75 percent.

The investment returns are used in the calculation of the rates that government employers contribute toward funding the system.

Any earnings about the 7.75 percent return on the investments made by the pension systems go to paying down the “unfunded accrued liability,” said Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera. 

More commonly called the UAL, it is the amount of money that has not been set aside to cover the cost of pension benefits promised in the future. The UAL for the four statewide retirement systems now hovers near $19 billion.

State agencies and schools, the employers, are making additional payments to help lower the UAL, but those mandatory payments put a strain on the budgets for other expenses.

The change in interest rates approved by LASERS and Teachers, combined with a recently passed law, could relieve some of the budget pressures caused by the big payments.

“We have a severe problem with underfunding. If we have an opportunity to accelerate repayment of the UAL, we ought to be taking advantage of it,” said Purpera, who chairs the Public Retirement Systems Actuarial Committee.

LASERS Deputy Director Maris LeBlanc said: “Because we expect to earn less, then the more money we make over that is money to put toward the debt.”

The rate reduction under normal circumstances would trigger an increase in state and school systems’ contributions because the systems would count on less earnings from investments.

But the state and schools will end up paying the same or a little less because the reduction will go into effect at the same time as a law which directs more of the pension systems’ excess investment earnings into debt reduction, said Maureen Westgard, executive director of the Teachers system.

The Teachers board voted to lower the expected return because “any impact that would have been felt would be offset,” said Westgard.

“The way we presented it to our board is ‘the planets are aligned for us,’ ” said LASERS Executive Director Cindy Rougeou. “Based on things that happened during the legislative session and what we expect our investment returns will be ... we are expecting to reduce (the state contribution) by 1.5 percent.”

Rougeou said the calculation is based on a 14 percent investment return, “and we expect that’s going to be closer to 18 percent.”

Westgard said Teachers is anticipating a return of more than 17 percent during the fiscal year which ended June 30.

Both systems are chalking up big investment returns today, but the 30-year average return is 8.2 percent for LASERS and 8.54 percent for Teachers.

Westgard and Rougeou said the new 7.75 percent assumption is realistic. Both referred to a new National Association of State Retirement Administrators report which looked at 126 different public pension plans. More than half reduced their investment assumptions since 2008. The average is 7.72 percent — right at the 7.75 percent adopted by Teachers and LASERS.

Lowering the rate will help bring more funds into the system, said Rougeou. “You try to find that perfect balance,” she said. “If you lower the rate more than you need to, you are going to put a burden on current taxpayers they should not have to pay.”

LASERS Investment Return 15.8 Percent for 2013

The Louisiana State Employees' Retirement System (LASERS) realized a 15.8 percent investment return for the period January 1-December 31, 2013. This calendar year-to-date performance is based on LASERS total plan, with a current market value exceeding $10 billion. Over the past five years, LASERS has posted a 13.8 percent return.

LASERS placed in the top 20th percentile or better for long-term rankings in Wilshire's Trust Universe Comparison Service (TUCS) most recent comparison. LASERS 10-year ranking was in the eleventh percentile, maintaining the retirement system's place as one of the nation's top state pension plans. TUCS is the most widely accepted benchmark for the performance of institutional assets and represents the largest database of any peer-comparison service in the industry.

LASERS Executive Director Cindy Rougeou said, "For the past four years, we have experienced positive market returns, which is a reflection of LASERS sound investment strategies. We will continue to manage LASERS investments prudently, functioning as a long-term investor."

LASERS provides a defined benefit pension plan that covers approximately 150,000 members. LASERS pays over $1 billion in annual benefits to retirees and their beneficiaries, providing a strong and reliable economic stimulus for Louisiana. 

LASERS Posts Strong Investment Return

The Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System (LASERS) has posted an investment return of 12.6 percent for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013, which brings the total asset value for LASERS to over $9.7 billion. 

“We are pleased to announce double digit returns for the 2012-2013 fiscal year,” said LASERS Chief Investment Officer Bobby Beale. “In addition, LASERS continues to focus on long range investment returns, which rank us in the top quartile among our peers nationwide.” LASERS highly credentialed staff internally manages approximately one-third of its portfolio, saving the System millions of dollars per year in professional management fees.

LASERS 10 year investment return is 8.2 percent. The most recent peer comparison as of June 30, 2013, places LASERS in the top 19 percent ranking over a 10 year period for public funds greater than $1 billion, according to Wilshire’s Trust Universe Comparison Service (TUCS). TUCS is the most widely accepted benchmark for the performance of institutional assets and represents the largest database of any peer-comparison service in the industry.

“Our investment performance is consistently among the best in the nation,” said LASERS Executive Director Cindy Rougeou. “We are pleased to report to our members that LASERS is continuing to move forward in a positive direction.”

LASERS Receives Prestigious National Award

The Public Pension Coordinating Council (PPCC) has awarded the Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System (LASERS) with the Public Pension Standards Award for 2012. The PPCC presents this award to public employee retirement systems in recognition of their achievement of high professional standards in the areas of plan design and administration, benefits, actuarial valuations, financial reporting, investments, and membership communications.

This is the ninth consecutive year that LASERS has received this prestigious award. LASERS Executive Director Cindy Rougeou said, “We are proud to receive this honor and the recognition is directly attributable to the talented and professional staff at LASERS.”

The PPCC is a confederation of the National Association of State Retirement Administrators, the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems, and the National Council on Teacher Retirement.