Montana Judges' Retirement System

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Montana Judges' Retirement System
Basic facts
Location:	Helena, Montana
Top official:	William Holahan executive director
Year founded:	1967
Active members:	60
Website:	Official website
Total assets under management
2023:	$284,542,535

See also: Public pensions in Montana

The Montana Judges' Retirement System (JRS) is a Montana state pension fund that provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to "all Montana judges of the district courts, justices of the Supreme Court, and the Chief Water Judge and their beneficiaries." The Montana Judges' Retirement System had $284,542,535 ($284.5 million) in total assets under management as of June 30, 2023.

The management of public pension funds can indicate support or opposition to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investment practices. ESG investing considers the extent to which corporations align with and promote certain non-financial standards, such as net carbon emission or corporate board diversity goals. States typically hire asset management companies (AMCs) to direct pension plan investments, some of which have ESG commitments that guide their strategies.

This article features the following sections:

• Background: Information about the structure and functions of the Montana Judges' Retirement System.
• Pension performance overview: Overview of the funding level and assets managed by the Montana Judges' Retirement System.
• Assets and asset management: Information about the asset management companies (AMCs) that contract with Montana Judges' Retirement System, including a list of contracting AMCs that are participants in the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative and the Climate Action 100+ initiative.
• Governance and accountability: Details about the Montana Judges' Retirement System's oversight board, including members and selection.

Background

See also: Public pensions

The Montana Judges' Retirement System, founded in 1967, operates as a defined benefit plan based on a formula established by Montana state law, is a sub fund of Montana Board of Investments. These plans—based on the employee's length of service and salary— provide retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to "all Montana judges of the district courts, justices of the Supreme Court, and the Chief Water Judge and their beneficiaries."

The Montana Judges' Retirement System served over 60 active members and 74 retirees and beneficiaries as of 2023.

Pension performance overview

The following table features information about the funding level and assets managed by the Montana Judges' Retirement System as of June 2023:

Montana Judges' Retirement System performance (June 2023)
Fiscal year	Percent funded	Unfunded liabilities	Total assets
2023	181.03%	$(59,258,266)	$132,393,655

Assets and asset management

Asset management companies (AMCs) contract with pension funds to manage asset investment. Some pension funds contract with multiple AMCs, some contract with a single AMC, and others make their own investment decisions without contracting with an AMC.

More than 300 AMCs as of December 2022 were members of the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative (NZAM), and 362 asset managers as of June 2023 were investor participants in the Climate Action 100+ initiative. Both international asset manager initiatives aim to align signatory investment decisions with the goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

List of AMCs contracting with the Montana Judges' Retirement System

The Montana Judges' Retirement System, as a sub fund of the Montana Board of Investments, contracted with 22 asset management companies (AMCs) as of June 2021. Of those companies or funds, 8 were investor participants in Climate Action 100+, and 9 were members of NZAM as of 2024. The following list identifies the AMCs (and in some cases, the specific funds) contracting with the Montana Judges' Retirement System:

• American Century Investment Management (Climate Action 100+)
• Baillie GIfford (NZAM)
• BlackRock (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
• Cohen & Steers (Climate Action 100+)
• Dimensional Fund Advisors
• Domestic Equity - Transition
• Franklin Templeton
• Invesco (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
• Jacobs Levy Equity Management
• JP Morgan (NZAM)
• Lazard Asset Management (NZAM)
• Montana Board of Investments (Climate Action 100+)
• Neuberger Berman (NZAM)
• Northern Trust (NZAM, Climate Action 100+)
• Oaktree Capital Management (Climate Action 100+)
• Payden & Rygel (NZAM)
• Reams Asset Management (Climate Action 100+)
• Shenkman Capital Management
• State Street Global Advisors (NZAM)
• T. Rowe Price (NZAM)
• Vaughan Nelson Investment Management

Governance and accountability

This section features information about the seven-member board of trustees that oversees the Montana Judges' Retirement System. The board is not specific to oversight of the Montana Judges' Retirement System and does exercise oversight duties for other state funds.

Board selection method

The board of trustees that oversees the Montana Judges' Retirement System is made up of seven members, who are appointed by the governor.

Board of trustees membership

A seven-member board of trustees oversees the operation and administration of the Montana Judges' Retirement System. The following individuals served on the board as of July 2023:

• Maggie Peterson , president
• Richard Hickel, vice president
• Dave Galt
• Sonja Woods
• Terry Halpin
• Mallory Merritt
• Jason Strouf

See also

• Public pensions in Montana
• Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
• Areas of inquiry and disagreement related to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
• Opposition to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) investing
• Reform proposals related to environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
• State legislative approaches opposing ESG investing
• State legislative approaches supporting ESG investing

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