Champaign, IL – The State Universities Retirement System (SURS) Board of Trustees on Dec. 9 voted to hire Meketa Investment Group as a general investment consultant for the System’s defined benefit plan for a five-year term, subject to successful contract negotiations.
Interviews and evaluations have been ongoing since September. The other finalist firm was Verus.
The board also voted to make real asset commitments totaling $100 million – $40 million to Homestead Capital USA Farmland Fund IV and $60 million to Longpoint Realty Fund III, both subject to successful contract negotiations.
These are both existing relationships for SURS. SURS previously committed $60 million to Homestead Capital USA Farmland Fund III and $50 million to Longpoint Realty Fund II.
In Other Business:
- The board accepted the Fiscal Year 2022 Actuarial Valuation Report and Fiscal Year 2022 GASB 67 and 68 Report. The reports will be posted to surs.org.
- Trustees certified the System’s fiscal year 2024 state contribution of $2,133,335,000, an increase of less than 1% from FY 2023.
Each year, an independent actuary retained by SURS evaluates the System and determines the required state contribution under the formula outlined in Illinois law (40 ILCS 5/15-155). The formula requires the state to make an annual contribution to SURS that will allow it to reach a funded status of 90% by the end of fiscal year 2045. Several actuarial assumptions impact the state contribution including the investment return, mortality rates and salary growth.
The board is required to certify the final state contribution for fiscal year 2024 by Jan. 15, 2023.
- The board set the fiscal year 2024 effective rate of interest at 6.5%, keeping it unchanged from FY 2023. The SURS effective rate of interest is used for the calculation of service credit purchases, refunds of survivor and excess contributions, Traditional and Portable defined benefit plan refunds, and lump-sum Portable plan retirements.