CHICAGO — More than half of Chicago and its sister agencies’ 11 public employee pension funds have agreed to a joint proposal promoted by the city’s treasurer, Kurt Summers, that’s aimed at cutting annual investment fees.
Summers made the announcement on Sept. 2 that the minimum threshold of 50% of the funds had agreed to a joint resolution on the effort. Summers believes the changes can potentially trim $25 million to $50 million off annual investment fees for all 11 funds.
The treasurer’s office will partner with the funds to launch an online database or clearinghouse, so they can share information on how much in fees they pay to investment managers and work together to reduce those fees.
“For years, the city’s public employee pension funds have been overcharged relative to the size of their investments on behalf of workers and retirees,” Summers said. “Launching the clearinghouse will help ensure each of our pension funds, taxpayers and retirees are treated fairly when it comes to investment fees.”
The 11 pension funds have approximately $35 billion in assets invested and each have their own procurement processes for contracting with investment managers, resulting in $144 million in investment fees annually.
