Colorado PERA Raises Bonus Pool 13% to $13.1 Million Despite $29 Billion Pension Gap
Updated
Updated · The Colorado Sun · Jun 8
Colorado PERA Raises Bonus Pool 13% to $13.1 Million Despite $29 Billion Pension Gap
2 articles · Updated · The Colorado Sun · Jun 8
Summary
$13.1 million is what Colorado PERA plans to set aside for staff bonuses this year after the board approved a 13% increase, even as the pension remains only 69% funded and retirees absorb years of benefit erosion.
In 2022, PERA lost $9.8 billion, yet investment staff still collected some of their biggest payouts because bonuses hinge on beating benchmarks and long-term targets rather than whether the fund made money overall.
Average investment bonuses reached about $299,000, nine officials got more than $400,000, and PERA's chief investment officer made $1.2 million total; many of those bonuses also count toward future pension benefits.
PERA says the pay is needed to retain in-house talent and avoid roughly $80 million a year in added outsourcing costs, citing a decade-long 8.3% return that ranks in the top 10% of public pensions.
Critics, unions and some trustees say the payouts clash with a 'shared sacrifice' system in which workers pay more, retirees have lost 21% of pension value to inflation since 2010, and other Western pensions cap bonuses far more tightly.