Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Iowa Best In Controlling Public Pension Costs
Independent Study: IPERS has lowest administration costs,
high level of service
(Des Moines) – An independent study of public retirement systems in the United States concluded the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System (IPERS), Iowa’s largest pension plan for public employees, had the lowest administration cost among organizations of similar size, even while providing high-level services.
“You don’t have to give up service quality to manage costs,” stated Donna M. Mueller, CEO of IPERS.
CEM Benchmarking Inc. said IPERS’ costs to manage benefits during fiscal year 2006 were about half the median cost, making IPERS the lowest-cost provider in the comparison group. CEM reviewed 56 pension organizations and compared IPERS to 16 from that group that are similar in membership. CEM (www.cembenchmarking.com), a private company based in Canada, reviews performance and costs of public pension plans in the United States and abroad.
“Although retirement costs are going up as life spans increase, we are effectively managing costs that are within our control,” stated Mueller. Mueller said that while IPERS is best known for providing a safe and dependable retirement income to Iowans, IPERS also benefits Iowa communities. “IPERS paid more than $924 million in retirement benefits during the last fiscal year, and over 88 percent of those stayed in Iowa,” explained Mueller.
IPERS has more than 300,000 members. About 82,000 retirees and their beneficiaries receive retirement benefits. IPERS’ assets exceed $20 billion.