Ohio Public Employees Retirement System told bank switch could save millions

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Public Employees Retirement System could save millions of dollars by changing how it picks the banks that hold its investments, a consultant told state lawmakers this week.

OPERS spent $7.8 million on banking record-keeping fees in 2016, roughly twice paid by the average state pension system, according to a report by Aon Hewitt Investment Consulting. That means if Ohio were to be just average, it would save nearly $4 million a year.

The Ohio Retirement Study Council system hired Aon Hewitt to review OPERS’ finances as part of a regular review. The firm’s resulting 157-page report was shared this week with the state lawmakers and others who oversee the state’s five pension systems.

OPERS is the state’s largest public pension system and one of the largest in the country. It represents 516,000 active and retired state employees and has investment holdings worth $94.1 billion. Its leaders are weighing benefit cuts for future state employees — which would require action from state lawmakers — to address long-standing solvency issues that it expects to get worse the next time the stock market takes a downturn.

Read more: https://www.cleveland.com/open/2019/11/ohio-public-employees-retirement-system-told-bank-switch-could-save-millions.html