Kentucky

Kentucky has four main public pension systems: the Kentucky Employees Retirement System (KERS), the State Police Retirement System (SPRS), the Kentucky Teacher Retirement System (KTRS), and the County Employees Retirement System (CERS). The Kentucky Public Pensions Authority (KPPA) (formerly known as the Kentucky Retirement System) oversees KERS and the SPRS.

• The KPPA board consists of 9 members: 6 trustees appointed by the governor; 3 elected by KERS and SPRS members and retired members (2 to represent KERS and 1 to represent SPRS). All elected trustees must be members of or retired from either KERS or SPRS. Of the 6 appointed trustees, 3 must have investment experience and 3 must have retirement experience, as defined by statute. All appointments by the Governor are subject to Senate confirmation.
  • The KPPA discloses its proxy voting records for directly held equities on this website.
• The KTRS board represents public teachers and consists of 11 members: 2 Ex Officio (the Education Commissioner and the State Treasurer); 2 appointed by the Governor; 7 elected by TRS members. Kentucky law requires that 4 trustees be active members, 1 trustee be a retired member, and 2 trustees be from outside the teaching profession.
  • The KTRS discloses its proxy voting records for directly held equities on this website.
• The CERS board represents county employees and consists of 9 members: 6 trustees appointed by the Governor; 3 elected by CERS members. All three elected trustees must be members of or retired from CERS, two must have had a majority of their service credit earned in CERS in a Nonhazardous position, and one must have a majority of his or her service credit earned in a Hazardous CERS position. All appointments by the governor are subject to Senate confirmation.

The “By Asset Manager” and “Asset Manager Voting” tables show the proxy voting records of the state’s asset managers who manage the pensions’ stock market portfolio through index, exchange-traded, or mutual funds. Since these are externally managed funds, the asset managers typically retain and exercise proxy voting privileges. This data is used to calculate the state’s pro-ESG and anti-ESG scores to see how the state leverages its externally managed funds in proxy voting.

The “State Voting” table shows KPPA’s proxy voting records for directly owned securities through pension fund portfolios. The 1792 Exchange commends the KPPA and the KTRS for publicly disclosing this information online for its pensioners.

Both tables are important to show a comprehensive picture of the state’s proxy voting record.