OPERS rated high-service, low-cost pension

CEM Benchmarking says system ranks highly among its industry peers

By Michael Pramik, Ohio Public Employees Retirement System

Nov. 5, 2026 – The Ohio Public Employees Retirement System continues to provide a high level of member service at a lower cost than its peers, says CEM Benchmarking, an independent pension consulting firm.

CEM compared OPERS to a custom peer group of 13 U.S. pension systems and found that OPERS delivers above-average service while maintaining significantly lower administrative costs.

Administration

CEM reported that OPERS earned a member service score of 90 out of 100, above the peer median of 83, while its administrative cost of $54 per member was $45 below the peer average of $99. The service score has risen from 87 in 2018.

CEM placed OPERS in the “enhanced service, lower cost” category, indicating that the system provides stronger service at a lower cost than comparable pension organizations.

OPERS’ total pension administration cost was $54 per active member, compared with the peer average of $99. Excluding project-related expenses, the cost was $48, compared with $88 for peers. Over the past eight years, OPERS’ pension administration cost declined by 0.7% annually, while peers’ cost increased more than 4% annually. CEM attributed the difference largely to efficient staffing levels and lower support costs driven by technology, database and application strategies.

Service

OPERS’ overall service score of 90 exceeded the peer median of 83, with the system outperforming peers across all four major member journeys: active members (88), inactive members (76), retiring members (90) and annuitants (94).

The report highlighted strengths in self-service transactions, retirement communications, annuitant outreach and contact-center performance.

Members reached a service representative in an average of 180 seconds, versus 455 seconds for peers, while 83% of OPERS interactions occurred through self-service channels, compared with a peer average of 76%.

Investments

OPERS also participates in CEM’s investment benchmarking program, which compares results with 35 U.S. public pension plans and a custom peer group of 15 U.S. public systems of similar size. CEM said OPERS’ 2025 investment costs, excluding private-asset performance fees, were 2.4 basis points below the peer benchmark (one basis point equals 0.01 percentage point). The fund’s total investment cost was 33.3 basis points. This reflects a lower-cost implementation style and lower costs for similar services.

For the five years ending Dec. 31, 2025, OPERS earned a net total return of 7.1%, compared with a U.S. public-plan median of 7.7% and a peer median of 7.9%. Its five-year policy return (the return of its target investment mix) was 6.9%, close to the peer median of 7.0%.

OPERS’ five-year net value added, which measures how much active management added above the policy return, was 0.2%, compared with a U.S. public-plan median of 0.4%. CEM noted that when private-equity benchmarks are standardized for comparison, OPERS’ five-year net value added increases to 0.3%.

CEM also reported that OPERS’ portfolio risk level of 11.4% was generally in line with the 11.3% median for comparable pension plans. The firm placed OPERS in the quadrant for plans with positive net value added and below-benchmark investment costs over both five- and 10-year periods.