Retirement insights from a Colorado PERA perspective

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“Celebrate that you are member service superstars – a low-cost, high-service system. Colorado PERA ranks 5th in the world when it comes to member satisfaction and service delivery.” – Tom Scheibelhut of CEM Benchmarking
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Just like the investment side of PERA is <a href="https://content.copera.org/how-does-pera-measure-up/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">benchmarked</a> and evaluated, so is the administrative side of the plan. <a href="http://www.cembenchmarking.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">CEM Benchmarking</a>, an international firm that analyzes pension fund service delivery, compared PERA to its peer group of 13 U.S. pension plans and to a larger universe of 71 plans around the world.



The range of U.S. pension plans varies from CalSTRS and CalPERS in California to the systems in Iowa, Kansas, and Utah. Global pension plans studied include ABP and PFZW in The Netherlands to the Ontario Pension Board and the British Columbia Pension Corporation in Canada, and numerous other plans in several countries.



For 2016, PERA’s administrative costs were well below the average of both the 13 funds in its peer group and the 71 pension funds evaluated across the globe. PERA’s annual pension administration costs were $51 per active member per year (or annually), inactive member, and retiree, or $10 below the peer average of $61 per year.



The reasons for PERA’s lower than average costs included higher employee productivity and lower costs for information technology and economies of scale. PERA had 3.4 full-time employees (FTE) per 10,000 members, below the peer average of 4.4.



PERA’s overall service score, measuring the customer service PERA provides its members and retirees, was 90 out of 100. Only four funds out of the 71 measured had higher service scores than PERA.



“CEM’s independent, third-party analysis of PERA’s operations confirms what members and retirees tell me about PERA’s customer service delivery. Being part of this global benchmarking effort allows PERA to learn from others in our industry and to implement good ideas that benefit our membership. And it affirms PERA’s commitment to the wise use of our members’ retirement assets,” said Greg Smith, PERA’s executive director.



The results of the CEM Benchmarking study further demonstrate the strong commitment of PERA to deliver exceptional service for PERA members and retirees. PERA provides this level of service at a low cost, protecting the retirement savings of its members and continuing to be one of Colorado’s best investments for members, retirees, and taxpayers across the state.

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