At Colorado PERA, we invest for one purpose: To provide retirement benefits to PERA members for generations to come.

It’s not just our mission, it’s our passion. And it’s the reason we prioritize financial value—not personal or political values—in our investment decisions.

Fiduciary duty

PERA serves nearly 700,000 current and former public employees who have worked hard to make our Colorado communities better places to live. Each of those members counts on PERA to provide a retirement benefit they cannot outlive.

The PERA Board and staff have a fiduciary duty to those members. That means we’re required by law to act solely in the interest of members and benefit recipients, and we must manage the trust funds only for their financial benefit. We make every investment decision with that duty in mind.

Each PERA member is unique, with their own personal values that guide them. It would be impossible to invest based on personal or political values of our individual members or stakeholders. Our fiduciary duty demands that we do what’s right for the membership as a whole, and that means focusing on financial value.

Prioritizing financial value

Our sole investment goal is to pursue the best risk-adjusted returns for our members. That means when we’re researching a possible investment opportunity or assessing an asset we already hold, our focus is on that investment’s ability to earn money over the long term.

We sometimes hear from stakeholders and others who want us to invest in some segments of the market or divest—sell our investments—from others based on their individual preferences or political beliefs.

That would be contrary to our mission and our fiduciary duty. Our approach involves finding companies, properties and investment funds that we believe will be competitive over time, allowing them to be profitable and generate returns to the portfolio.

Investing based on the financial interest of the whole PERA membership is our fiduciary duty, and we take it seriously because our hard-working members depend on us for their financial future.

Learn more about Investment Stewardship:

• Investment Stewardship Report
• Digital Snapshot
• Video Library: Investment Stewardship
• Asset Classes Explained