Subdivision 1. Report required. (a) The State Board of Investment, on behalf of the public pension funds and programs for which it is the investment authority, and any Minnesota public pension plan that is not fully invested through the State Board of Investment, including the Bloomington Fire Department Relief Association and a local volunteer firefighters relief association governed by sections 424A.091 to 424A.095, shall report the information specified in subdivision 3 to the state auditor. The state auditor may prescribe a form or forms for the purposes of the reporting requirements contained in this section.

(b) The Bloomington Fire Department Relief Association and a local volunteer firefighters relief association governed by sections 424A.091 to 424A.095 is fully invested during a given calendar year for purposes of this section if all assets of the applicable pension plan beyond sufficient cash equivalent investments to cover six months expected expenses are invested under section 11A.17. The board of any fully invested public pension plan remains responsible for submitting investment policy statements and subsequent revisions as required by subdivision 3, paragraph (a).

(c) For purposes of this section, the State Board of Investment is considered to be the investment authority for any Minnesota public pension fund required to be invested by the State Board of Investment under section 11A.23, or for any Minnesota public pension fund authorized to invest in the supplemental investment fund under section 11A.17 and which is fully invested by the State Board of Investment.

(d) This section does not apply to the following plans:

(1) the Minnesota unclassified employees retirement program under chapter 352D;

(2) the public employees defined contribution plan under chapter 353D;

(3) the individual retirement account plans under chapters 354B and 354D;

(4) the higher education supplemental retirement plan under chapter 354C;

(5) any alternative retirement benefit plan established under section 383B.914; and

(6) the University of Minnesota faculty retirement plan.

Subd. 2. Asset class definition. (a) For purposes of this section, "asset class" means any of the following asset groupings as authorized in applicable law, bylaws, or articles of incorporation:

(1) cash and any cash equivalent investments with maturities of one year or less when issued;

(2) debt securities with maturities greater than one year when issued, including but not limited to mortgage participation certificates and pools, asset backed securities, guaranteed investment contracts, and authorized government and corporate obligations of corporations organized under laws of the United States or any state, or the Dominion of Canada or its provinces;

(3) stocks or convertible issues of any corporation organized under laws of the United States or any state, or the Dominion of Canada or its provinces, or any corporation listed on the New York Stock Exchange or the American Stock Exchange;

(4) international stocks or convertible issues;

(5) international debt securities; and

(6) real estate and venture capital.

(b) If the pension plan is investing in open-end investment companies registered under the federal Investment Company Act of 1940, or in the Minnesota supplemental investment fund under section 11A.17, this investment must be included under an asset class indicated in paragraph (a), clauses (1) through (6), as appropriate. If the investment vehicle includes underlying securities from more than one asset class as indicated by paragraph (a), clauses (1) through (6), the investment may be treated as a separate asset class.

Subd. 3. Content of reports. (a) The report required by subdivision 1 must include a written statement of the investment policy. Following that initial report, subsequent reports must include investment policy changes and the effective date of each policy change rather than a complete statement of investment policy, unless the state auditor requests submission of a complete current statement. The report must also include the information required by the following paragraphs, as applicable.

(b) If, after four years of reporting under this paragraph, the total portfolio time weighted rate of return, net of all investment related costs and fees, provided by the public pension plan differs by no more than 0.1 percent from the comparable return for the plan calculated by the Office of the State Auditor, and if a public pension plan has a total market value of $50,000,000 or more as of the beginning of the calendar year, and if the public pension plan's annual audit is performed by the state auditor or by the legislative auditor, the report required by subdivision 1 must include the market value of the total portfolio and the market value of each asset class included in the pension fund as of the beginning of the calendar year and as of the end of the calendar year. At the discretion of the state auditor, the public pension plan may be required to submit the market value of the total portfolio and the market value of each investment account, investment portfolio, or asset class included in the pension fund for each month, and the amount and date of each injection and withdrawal to the total portfolio and to each investment account, investment portfolio, or asset class. If the market value of a public pension plan's fund drops below $50,000,000 in a subsequent year, it must continue reporting under this paragraph for any subsequent year in which the public pension plan is not fully invested as specified in subdivision 1, paragraph (b), except that if the public pension plan's annual audit is not performed by the state auditor or legislative auditor, paragraph (c) applies.

(c) If paragraph (b) would apply if the annual audit were provided by the state auditor or legislative auditor, the report required by subdivision 1 must include the market value of the total portfolio and the market value of each asset class included in the pension fund as of the beginning of the calendar year and for each month, and the amount and date of each injection and withdrawal to the total portfolio and to each investment account, investment portfolio, or asset class.

(d) For public pension plans to which paragraph (b) or (c) applies, the report required by subdivision 1 must also include a calculation of the total time-weighted rate of return available from index-matching investments assuming the asset class performance targets and target asset mix indicated in the written statement of investment policy. The provided information must include a description of indices used in the analyses and an explanation of why those indices are appropriate. This paragraph does not apply to any fully invested plan, as defined by subdivision 1, paragraph (b). Reporting by the State Board of Investment under this paragraph is limited to information on the Minnesota public pension plans required to be invested by the State Board of Investment under section 11A.23.

(e) If a public pension plan has a total market value of less than $50,000,000 as of the beginning of the calendar year and was never required to file under paragraph (b) or (c), the report required by subdivision 1 must include the amount and date of each total portfolio injection and withdrawal. In addition, the report must include the market value of the total portfolio as of the beginning of the calendar year and for each quarter.

(f) Any public pension plan reporting under paragraph (b) or (c) must include computed time-weighted rates of return with the report, in addition to all other required information, as applicable. The chief administrative officer of the public pension plan submitting the returns must certify, on a form prescribed by the state auditor, that the returns have been computed by the pension plan's investment performance consultant or custodial bank. The chief administrative officer of the public pension plan submitting the returns also must certify that the returns are net of all costs and fees, including investment management fees, and that the procedures used to compute the returns are consistent with Bank Administration Institute studies of investment performance measurement and presentation standards set by the CFA Institute. If the certifications required under this paragraph are not provided, the reporting requirements of paragraph (c) apply.

(g) For public pension plans reporting under paragraph (e), the public pension plan must retain supporting information specifying the date and amount of each injection and withdrawal to each investment account and investment portfolio. The public pension plan must also retain the market value of each investment account and investment portfolio at the beginning of the calendar year and for each quarter. Information that is required to be collected and retained for any given year or years under this paragraph must be submitted to the Office of the State Auditor if the Office of the State Auditor requests in writing that the information be submitted by a public pension plan or plans, or be submitted by the State Board of Investment for any plan or plans for which the State Board of Investment is the investment authority under this section. If the state auditor requests information under this subdivision, and the public plan fails to comply, the pension plan is subject to penalties under subdivision 5, unless penalties are waived by the state auditor under that subdivision.

Subd. 4. [Repealed, 2012 c 286 art 10 s 13]

Subd. 5. Penalty for noncompliance. Failure to comply with the reporting requirements of this section must result in a withholding of all state aid or state appropriation to which the pension plan may otherwise be directly or indirectly entitled until the pension plan has complied with the reporting requirements. The state auditor shall instruct the commissioners of revenue and management and budget to withhold any state aid or state appropriation from any pension plan that fails to comply with the reporting requirements contained in this section, until the pension plan has complied with the reporting requirements. The state auditor may waive the withholding of state aid or state appropriations if the state auditor determines in writing that compliance would create an excessive hardship for the pension plan.

Subd. 6. Investment disclosure report. (a) The state auditor shall prepare an annual report to the legislature on the investment performance of the various public pension plans subject to this section. The content of the report is specified in paragraphs (b) to (f).

(b) For each public pension plan reporting under subdivision 3, paragraph (b), the state auditor shall report total portfolio and asset class time-weighted rates of return, net of all investment-related costs and fees. If the state auditor has required a plan to submit the market value of the total portfolio and the market value of each investment account, investment portfolio, or asset class included in the pension fund for each month, and the amount and date of each injection and withdrawal to the total portfolio and to each investment account, investment portfolio, or asset class as prescribed under subdivision 3, paragraph (b), the state auditor shall also compute and report total portfolio and asset class time-weighted rates of return, net of all costs and fees.

(c) For each public pension plan reporting under subdivision 3, paragraph (c), the state auditor shall compute and report total portfolio and asset class time-weighted rates of return, net of all costs and fees.

(d) For each public pension plan reporting under subdivision 3, paragraph (e), the state auditor shall compute and report total portfolio time-weighted rates of return, net of all costs and fees. If the state auditor has requested data for a plan under subdivision 3, paragraph (g), the state auditor may also compute and report asset class time-weighted rates of return, net of all costs and fees.

(e) The report by the state auditor must include the information submitted by the pension plans under subdivision 3, paragraph (d), or a synopsis of that information.

(f) The report by the state auditor may also include a presentation of multiyear performance, information collected under subdivision 4, and any other information or analysis deemed appropriate by the state auditor.

Subd. 7. Expense of report. All administrative expenses incurred relating to the investment report by the state auditor described in subdivision 6 must be borne by the Office of the State Auditor and may not be charged back to the entities described in subdivisions 1 or 4.

Subd. 8. Timing of reports. (a) For the Bloomington Fire Department Relief Association and the volunteer firefighter relief associations, the information required under this section must be submitted by the due date for reports required under section 424A.014, subdivision 1 or 2, as applicable. If a relief association satisfies the definition of a fully invested plan under subdivision 1, paragraph (b), for the calendar year covered by the report required under section 424A.014, subdivision 1 or 2, as applicable, the chief administrative officer of the covered pension plan shall certify that compliance on a form prescribed by the state auditor. The state auditor shall transmit annually to the State Board of Investment a list or lists of covered pension plans which submitted certifications in order to facilitate reporting by the State Board of Investment under paragraph (c).

(b) For the St. Paul Teachers Retirement Fund Association and the University of Minnesota faculty supplemental retirement plan, the information required under this section must be submitted to the state auditor by June 1 of each year.

(c) The State Board of Investment, on behalf of pension funds specified in subdivision 1, paragraph (c), shall report information required under this section by September 1 of each year.

Subd. 9. Data availability. Any information received by the state auditor under this section, if the data are public, must be made available to individuals or organizations which request that information. The state auditor is authorized to charge fees sufficient to cover the cost of providing the requested information in usable formats.

Subd. 10. Pension performance reporting. In addition to report presentations that the state auditor is required to provide elsewhere in this section, the state auditor shall provide an analysis comparing the one-year and the five-year rate of return for each pension fund and the benchmark rate of return for each fund. The state auditor shall select the benchmark rate of return based on the best practice in the industry.

History: 1994 c 565 art 2 s 1; 1995 c 262 art 9 s 1; 1996 c 438 art 10 s 1; 1997 c 241 art 10 s 4; 2002 c 392 art 1 s 8; art 11 s 10; 2006 c 271 art 8 s 4,5; 2006 c 277 art 6 s 1,2; 2009 c 101 art 2 s 109; 2009 c 169 art 10 s 6; 2012 c 286 art 10 s 7,8; 2013 c 111 art 5 s 63-65,80; 2014 c 296 art 6 s 35,49; 1Sp2019 c 6 art 22 s 10; 1Sp2019 c 8 art 6 s 1