OPERS releases financial reports

Funding remained steady despite rocky investment environment in 2022

By Michael Pramik, Ohio Public Employees Retirement System

July 13, 2023 – OPERS has released its latest annual financial reports, which provide a detailed look at our financial, investment, actuarial and demographic details, providing transparency in the management of your pension system.

The latest Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, and the abbreviated Popular Annual Financial Report, are available on our website for members and stakeholders to review. The reports present the previous calendar year’s accomplishments.

Here’s some of the 2022 information you’ll discover about OPERS in these latest reports:

• OPERS maintained a total net position of $106.8 billion at the end of 2022, down from $127.0 billion from a year earlier, reflecting last year’s declining stock prices and historic losses in the bond market.
• Despite the market conditions, the Dec. 31, 2022, actuarial valuation showed that OPERS remained 84 percent funded, with an amortization period of 16 years, for 2022.
• The Health Care Plan solvency years increased from 25 years at the end of 2020 to 29 years at the end of 2021.
• Membership reached nearly 1.25 million with growth in all three categories. At the end of 2022 membership included 220,667 retirees, 297,827 active members and 730,139 inactive members.
• OPERS made pension benefit payments of more than $7.0 billion, up from $6.8 billion in 2021.
• Health care costs, net of related receipts, declined to $591 million, from $853 million.
• Employers contributed more than $2.3 billion to the system, up nearly $150 million over their 2021 contributions. Member contributions rose more than $100 million to nearly $1.7 billion.
• The OPERS defined benefit portfolio returned a loss of 12.03 percent, which was below the assumed rate of return of 6.9 percent. The health care portfolio returned a loss of 15.51 percent, below its assumed rate of return of 6.0 percent. The defined contribution portfolio returned a loss of 16.00 percent.
• Last year OPERS had 85 members who were more than 100 years old, with the oldest being 107.
• OPERS is good for Ohio. For every dollar we received from public employers in 2022, $3.27 was returned to the Ohio economy through pension and health care payments made to retirees. More than $2 billion of the OPERS portfolio was invested with Ohio-based companies.
• Here are a few averages for new retirees in 2022:
  • Age at retirement: 61.3
  • Years of service at retirement: 24.6
  • Final average salary: $63,427
  • Pension at retirement: $32,646
  • Age on valuation date: 61.8
  • Pension on valuation date: $32,724

Michael Pramik

Michael Pramik is communication strategist for the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System and editor of the PERSpective blog. As an experienced business journalist, he clarifies complex pension policies and helps members make smart choices to secure their retirement.