North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System

• Key terms related to ESG
• Enacted ESG legislation
• Areas of inquiry and disagreement
• Opposition to ESG
• Federal ESG rules and regulations
• Public pension information by state
• Economy and Society: Ballotpedia's weekly ESG newsletter
  • Subscribe here

North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System
Basic facts
Location:	Bismarck, North Dakota
Top official:	Position Vacant, board chair
Year founded:	1966
Active members:	25,019
Website:	Official website
Total assets under management
2022:	$3,899,548,509

See also: Public pensions in North Dakota

The North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System (NDPERS) is a North Dakota state pension fund that provides retirement, disability, and survivor benefits to the state's non-classified state employees. NDPERS had $3,899,548,509 ($3.9 billion) in total assets under management as of July 1, 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 NDPERS.
• Pension performance overview: Overview of the funding level and assets managed by NDPERS.
• Assets and asset management: Information about the asset management companies (AMCs) that contract with NDPERS, 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 NDPERS' oversight board, including members and selection.

Background

See also: Public pensions

The North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System (NDPERS), founded in 1966, invests the assets of and provides funding for the retirement of North Dakota's non-classified state employees. NDPERS is a defined benefit plan, wherein the employee contributes 7% of their income monthly, and the employer contributes 9.26% of the employees monthly income.

NDPERS served over 25,019 active members and approximately 14,997 retirees and beneficiaries as of July 2023.

Pension performance overview

The following table features information about the funding level and assets managed by the North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System as of July 1, 2023:

North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System pension performance (July 1, 2023)
Fiscal year	Percent funded	Unfunded liabilities	Total assets
2022	66.3%	$1,928,577,068	$3,899,548,509

Assets and asset management

Asset management companies (AMCs) are hired to manage asset investment for state pension funds across all 50 states.

As of October 2024, 330 AMCs were members of the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative (NZAM), and 391 AMCs were investor participants in the Climate Action 100+ initiative. Both international asset manager initiatives aimed to align the investment decisions of signatories with the goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

NZAM announced on January 13, 2025, that it was suspending operations and removing the commitment statement and list of signatories from its website. The group said in a statement it would reevaluate its plans and operations in light of “[r]ecent developments in the U.S. and different regulatory and client expectations in investors’ respective jurisdictions.”

List of AMCs contracting with the North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System

The North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System (NDPERS) contracted with 77 asset management companies (AMCs) or specific funds as of June 30, 2024. Of those companies, seven were investor participants in Climate Action 100+, and twenty-three were members of NZAM, as of October 2024. The following list identifies the AMCs (and in some cases, the specific funds) contracting with NDPERS:

North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System (NDPERS) asset management companies Click on a column header below to sort the list of asset managers.
AMC name	Investment type	Assets under management	Percentage of total fund assets	NZAM Initiative signatory as of October 2024	Climate Action 100+ signatory as of October 2024
LA Capital Large Cap Growth	Large Cap Domestic;	31,217,643	0.719%	No	No
LA Capital 60% Large Cap/40% Large Cap Active Extension	Large Cap Domestic;	489,713,551	11.275%	No	No
NTAM Collective Russell 1000 Index Fund	Large Cap Domestic;	395,169,837	9.098%	No	No
NTAM - Quant Enhanced	Large Cap Domestic;	189,892,714	4.372%	No	No
Parametric/Clifton Group Enhanced	Large Cap Domestic;	190,527,373	4.387%	No	No
Atlanta Capital Small Cap Equity Fund	Small Cap Domestic;	21,118,678	0.486%	No	No
Riverbridge Small Cap Growth	Small Cap Domestic;	21,508,294	0.495%	No	No
Sycamore Small Cap Value	Small Cap Domestic;	21,048,516	0.485%	No	No
NTAM Collective Russell 2000 Index Fund	Small Cap Domestic;	6,215,492	0.143%	No	No
William Blair International Leaders	International All Cap;	127,687,092	2.940%	No	Yes
Arrowstreet International Equity	International All Cap;	225,202,376	5.185%	No	No
State Street MSCI ACWI exUS Index	International All Cap;			Yes	No
NTAM - MSCI World ex-US Index	Developed International Large Cap;			No	No
State Street MSCI World exUS Index	Developed International Large Cap;	284,255,614	6.545%	Yes	No
DFA Intl. Small Cap Value Portfolio (3)	Developed International Small Cap;	19,049,609	0.439%	No	No
Wellington International Small Cap Opportunities	Developed International Small Cap;	65,628	0.002%	Yes	Yes
State Street MSCI World exUS Small Cap Index	Developed International Small Cap;	26,336,775	0.606%	Yes	No
Axiom Emerging Markets Equity Fund (3)	Emerging Markets;			No	Yes
DFA Emerging Markets All Cap Core	Emerging Markets;	65,988,872	1.519%	No	No
DFA Emerging Markets Small Cap Portfolio (3)	Emerging Markets;			No	No
State Street MSCI Emerging Markets Ex China Index	Emerging Markets;	50,364,391	1.160%	Yes	No
State Street MSCI China Index	Emerging Markets;	18,623,822	0.429%	Yes	No
State Street MSCI Emerging Markets Index	Emerging Markets;			Yes	No
Total Adams St-Brinson Partnership Funds 1998-2003	Private Equity;	163,534	0.004%	No	No
Total Adams St-Brinson Non-US Partnership Funds 1999-2004	Private Equity;	87,125	0.002%	No	No
Adams Street 2008 Non-US Partnership Fd	Private Equity;	1,413,326	0.033%	No	No
Adams Street Direct Co-investment Fund 2006	Private Equity;			No	No
Total Adams Street 2010 Funds	Private Equity;	3,237,235	0.075%	No	No
Adams Street 2015 Global Fund	Private Equity;	16,207,699	0.373%	No	No
Adams Street 2016 Global Fund	Private Equity;	15,959,913	0.367%	No	No
Adams Street 2017 Global Fund	Private Equity;	34,106,722	0.785%	No	No
Adams Street 2018 Global Fund	Private Equity;	35,084,868	0.808%	No	No
Adams Street 2019 Global Fund	Private Equity;	32,459,078	0.747%	No	No
Adams Street 2020 Global Fund	Private Equity;	24,134,270	0.556%	No	No
Adams Street 2021 Global Fund	Private Equity;	15,807,853	0.364%	No	No
Blackrock PEP	Private Equity;	106,840,873	2.460%	Yes	No
Blackrock PEP 2020 Series	Private Equity;	59,571,023	1.372%	Yes	No
Sixth Street Partners - TAO	Private Equity;	36,606,726	0.843%	No	No
Portfolio Advisors	Private Equity;	5,125,229	0.118%	No	No
Altor Fund VI	Private Equity;	1,196,727	0.028%	No	No
Kelso IA XI	Private Equity;	4,411,264	0.102%	No	No
HIG Capital	Private Equity;	1,399,001	0.032%	No	No
PIMCO Distressed Senior Credit Opportunities II (3)	Investment Grade Fixed Income;	29,972,212	0.690%	No	No
Prudential Core Fixed Income	Investment Grade Fixed Income;	175,854,830	4.049%	No	No
State Street Credit Index	Investment Grade Fixed Income;	21,426,176	0.493%	Yes	No
State Street Gov Index	Investment Grade Fixed Income;	78,431,113	1.806%	Yes	No
Western Asset U.S. Core Fixed Income	Investment Grade Fixed Income;	173,719,255	4.000%	No	No
State Street Long US Treasury Index NL Fund	Investment Grade Fixed Income;			Yes	No
PIMCO Core Plus Constrained	Investment Grade Fixed Income;	176,408,037	4.062%	No	No
Manulife/Declaration Total Return Bond Fund (3)	Investment Grade Fixed Income;	301,014	0.007%	No	No
Allspring Medium Quality Credit	Investment Grade Fixed Income;	56,891,946	1.310%	No	Yes
Ares ND Credit Strategies (3)	Below Investment Grade Fixed Income;	69,855,480	1.608%	No	No
Cerberus ND Private Credit Fund (3)	Below Investment Grade Fixed Income;	84,053,878	1.935%	No	No
Loomis Sayles High Yield	Below Investment Grade Fixed Income;	1,254,902	0.029%	No	No
PIMCO BRAVO II (3)	Below Investment Grade Fixed Income;	1,216,186	0.028%	No	No
Pinebridge	Below Investment Grade Fixed Income;	79,777,510	1.837%	Yes	No
Nomura	Below Investment Grade Fixed Income;	79,798,989	1.837%	Yes	Yes
GS Mezzanine Partners 2006 Offshore, L.P. (3)	Below Investment Grade Fixed Income;	0	0.000%	No	No
Invesco Core Real Estate USA LP	Global Real Estate;	204,647,292	4.712%	Yes	No
Invesco US ValueAdd Fund IV LP	Global Real Estate;	143,022	0.003%	Yes	No
Invesco US ValueAdd Fund V LP	Global Real Estate;	30,964,083	0.713%	Yes	No
Invesco Real Estate US Fund VI	Global Real Estate;	27,282,594	0.628%	Yes	No
Invesco Asia Real Estate Fund III LP	Global Real Estate;	9,163,788	0.211%	No	No
JP Morgan Strategic & Special Situation Property Blend	Global Real Estate;	140,755,433	3.241%	Yes	No
JP Morgan Greater Europe Opportunistic Property Fund (3)	Global Real Estate;	1	0.000%	Yes	No
TIR Teredo Timber, LLC	REAL ASSETS--Timber;	12,027,581	0.277%	No	No
TIR Springbank, LLC	REAL ASSETS--Timber;	25,353,087	0.584%	No	No
Rohatyn Group Asian Infrastructure & Related Resources (3)	REAL ASSETS--Infrastructure;	9,432,290	0.217%	No	No
JP Morgan Infrastructure Investments Fund (IIF)	REAL ASSETS--Infrastructure;	69,105,256	1.591%	Yes	No
ISQ Global Infrastructure Fund II (3)	REAL ASSETS--Infrastructure;	39,167,998	0.902%	No	No
ISQ Global Infrastructure Fund III (3)	REAL ASSETS--Infrastructure;	16,786,476	0.386%	No	No
Macquarie Infrastructure Partners IV (3)	REAL ASSETS--Infrastructure;	43,135,767	0.993%	Yes	Yes
Macquarie Infrastructure Partners V (3)	REAL ASSETS--Infrastructure;	35,655,108	0.821%	Yes	Yes
Grosvenor Customized Infrastructure Strategies, LP (3)	REAL ASSETS--Infrastructure;	4,853,776	0.112%	No	No
Grosvenor Customized Infrastructure Strategies II (3)	REAL ASSETS--Infrastructure;	10,544,912	0.243%	No	No
Grosvenor Customized Infrastructure Strategies III (3)	REAL ASSETS--Infrastructure;	20,371,299	0.469%	No	No
Northern Trust Collective STIF	Cash Equivalents;	23,126,791	0.532%	No	No

Governance and accountability

This section features information about the 11-member board of trustees that oversees the North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System (NDPERS). The board is not specific to oversight of NDPERS and exercises oversight duties for other state funds.

Board selection method

The board of trustees that oversees NDPERS is made up of 11 members. Four members are appointed by the governor, four are legislators also appointed by the governor, and three are elected.

Board of trustees membership

An 11-member board of trustees oversees the operation and administration of NDPERS. The following individuals served on the board as of March 2024:

• Position Vacant, board chair
• Gerald Buck
• Joe Morrissette
• Jeffry Volk
• Jason Dockter
• Greg Stemen
• Dick Dever
• Shawn Vedaa
• Tyler Erickson
• Adam Miller
• Casey Goodhouse

See also

• Public pensions in North Dakota
• Environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG)
• Arguments about 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

External links

• Search Google News for this topic