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SCERS
WEBSITE HANDBOOK
THE SACRAMENTO COUNTY EMPLOYEES' RETIREMENT SYSTEM
Introduction
In
1941, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors adopted Ordinance
No. 283
creating SCERS, and providing benefits in accordance with provisions
of the 1937 Act. Over the years, the law has changed and the Board
of Supervisors has implemented numerous optional provisions.
The
SCERS Board of Retirement manages the retirement plan which is a significant
part of the overall benefits package provided to eligible Sacramento
County and SCERS member districts employees. The retirement plan is
a defined benefit plan which simply means that the sponsoring employers
promise a specified benefit amount at retirement or death calculated
in accordance with a formula which takes into consideration a member's
age at retirement, years of credited plan service, and final compensation.
Benefits provided include service and disability retirement allowances,
cost-of-living increases, and survivor's benefits.
As
of June 30, 2004, SCERS membership includes 13,672 active members,
2,110 inactive vested members, 5,265 retired members, and 1,026 beneficiaries
receiving monthly allowances.
Funding
and Investments
Funding
for benefits is provided from three sources which include employer contributions,
employee contributions, and earnings on investments of the assets of
the system.
The
SCERS Board is responsible for diversifying the assets of the system,
i.e., the spreading of investment funds among different securities,
issuers, maturity dates and localities in order to distribute the
risk. Put simply, the Board must avoid having "all of our eggs in one
basket." Current asset allocation targets are:
| Domestic
Equity - Large Cap |
30% |
| Domestic
Equity - Small Cap |
5% |
| Long / Short Hedge Fund |
5% |
| International
Equity |
15% |
| International
Equity - Emerging Markets |
5% |
| Fixed
Income |
25% |
| Real
Estate |
15% |
| Cash |
0% |
Total |
¯¯¯¯¯
100% |
To
accomplish this task, the SCERS Board works with an investment consulting
firm to establish its Investment Policy and Objectives. The Board adopts
Investment Manager Guidelines to ensure that SCERS assets are invested
with care. The Board also closely monitors its investment managers to
make sure they are in compliance with Board policies and that they are
meeting the Board's long-term investment performance objectives.
All
of the assets of the retirement system are invested by professional
investment management firms who are hired by the SCERS Board which has
a fiduciary responsibility to safeguard the assets and earn a reasonable
rate of return on investments.
Funding
for future retirement benefits calls for a long-term outlook. As a
result, the Board’s Investment Policy and Objectives has an
appropriately long-term horizon. The Board cannot guarantee the performance
of investments, especially over short-term periods. However, one
of the important things to remember about your retirement plan is
that it is a defined benefit plan. This means that regardless of
the return on investments, your retirement benefit will not decrease.
Retirement
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