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Illinois

Illinois has four main public employee pension funds: Illinois State Employees Retirement System (SERS), Illinois Teachers Retirement System (TRS), Illinois State Universities Retirement System (SURS) and Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF).

The SERS board represents all eligible state employees and consists of 13 members: The Illinois Comptroller, 6trustees appointed by the Governor, 4 active trustees elected by the SERS members, and 2 retired trustees elected by SERS retirees.

- The Illinois State Board of Investment (ISBI) manages assets for Illinois SERS and discloses its specific proxy voting records on this website.

The TRS board represents public teachers and consists of 15 members: The state superintendent of education, 7 trustees appointed by the governor, 5 trustees elected by contributing TRS members, and 2 trustees elected by TRS annuitants. The Governor appoints the President of the Board of Trustees.
The SURS board represents state university employees and consists of 11 members approved by the state senate: 4 trustees are elected by active SURS members, 2 trustees are elected by retired SURS members, and 5trustees are appointed by the Governor (one of whom is the chairperson of the Illinois Board of Higher Education). The Governor designates the board chairperson.

The IMRF board represents participating municipal employees and consists of 8 members: 4 Executive Trustees elected by participating units of government, 3 Employee Trustees elected by participating IMRF members, 1 Annuitant Trustee elected by IMRF annuitants.

The first table shows the aggregated proxy voting records of the state’s asset managers, who manage the pension’s stock market portfolio either through mutual funds or ETFs, and are therefore exercising proxy voting privileges as well. The second table shows the state’s publicly disclosed proxy voting records for public securities that it directly owns through pension fund portfolios. Both of these tables are necessary to reflect an accurate and comprehensive picture of the state’s proxy voting records.

By Asset Manager

AQR Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

82%

Adams Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

0%

BlackRock Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

7%

Dimensional Investment Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

5%

Emerald Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

33%

JPMorgan Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

20%

Lazard Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

49%

Northern Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

75%

T Rowe Price Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

3%

UBS Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

48%

Blackstone Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

84%

William Blair Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

72%

Zevenbergen Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

29%

GQG Partners Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

57%

LSV Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

37%

Ariel Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

21%

Wasatch Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

19%

Greenspring Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

0%

Brookfield Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

48%

Grandeur Peak Global Funds

Percentage of times Mgr. voted “for” pro-ESG proposals:

67%

Asset Manager Voting

Pro-ESG

17.9%

Anti-ESG

2.4%

Anti-Fossil Fuels

20%

Anti-Pollution/Waste

21%

Animal Rights

11%

DEI

17%

Weapons/Defense

15%

Human Rights

22%

Income Equality

15%

Political Speech/Lobbying Spending

19%

Health Care

13%

Race/Gender targets on Boards

14%

Non-Pecuniary

11%

ESG-Focused Governance

11%

Abortion

10%

Pro-Fossil Fuel

2%

Equality not DEI

2%

Controversial Cause Support

2%

Geopolitical Rivals/China

4%

State Voting

Pro-ESG

35%

Anti-ESG

0%

Anti-Fossil Fuel

28%

Anti-Pollution/Waste

9%

Animal Rights

0%

DEI

44%

Weapons/Defense

40%

Human Rights

55%

Income Equality

21%

Political Speech/Lobbying Spending

40%

Health Care

5%

Race/Gender targets on Boards

100%

Non-Pecuniary Corporate Purpose

86%

ESG-Focused Governance

22%

Abortion

20%

Pro-Fossil Fuel

0%

Equality not DEI

0%

Controversial Cause Support

0%

Geopolitical Rivals/China

0%

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