MSRS is honored to receive the 2026 Public Pension Standards Award for Funding and Administration from the Public Pension Coordinating Council (PPCC). 

Recognition Award for Administration

To receive the Recognition Award for Administration, the retirement system must meet requirements in five categories:

  1. Comprehensive Benefit Program. The system must provide a comprehensive benefit program, including retirement benefits, in-service death benefits, disability benefits, vesting, and provisions for granting a cost-of-living adjustment.
  2. Actuarial. An actuarial valuation must be completed at least every two years using generally-recognized and accepted actuarial principles and practices.
  3. Audit. The system must obtain an unqualified opinion from an independent audit conducted following government auditing standards generally accepted in the United States.
  4. Investments. The system must follow written investment policies and written fiduciary standards, and the system must obtain an annual investment performance evaluation from an outside investment review entity.
  5. Communications. Members must be provided a handbook or summary plan description, regular updates to the documents, and an annual benefit statement. Meetings of the governing board of the system are conducted at least quarterly with adequate public notice.

Recognition Award for Funding

To receive the Recognition Award for Funding, the retirement system must meet one or more of the following funding adequacy requirements:

  1. A funded ratio of 100%,
  2. Contribution rates equal to or greater than 100% of the annual required contribution, or
  3. A plan has been approved by the governing body to achieve or one or both of these criteria within five years.

PPCC Award Certificate

About the PPCC

The PPCC is a coalition of three national associations that represent public retirement systems and administrators: 

  • National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA) 
  • National Council on Teacher Retirement (NCTR)
  • National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS)

These associations combined represent more than 500 of the largest pension plans in the United States, serving over 18 million of the nation’s state and local government employees.

Learn more about the PPCC at nasra.org/ppcc.