Missouri

Missouri has five main public pension systems: the Missouri State Employees’ Retirement System (MOSERS), the Public School Retirement System of Missouri (PSRS), the Public Education Employee Retirement System of Missouri (PEERS), the Local Government Employees Retirement System (LAGERS), and the Missouri Department of Transportation & Missouri State Highway Patrol Employees’ Retirement System (MPERS).

• The MOSERS board represents general state employees, including some university employees; the board consists of 11 members: 2 Ex Officio (State Treasurer, Commissioner of the Office of Administration); 2 appointed by the Governor; 2 members of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House; 2 members of the Senate appointed by the Senate Pro Tempore; 2 elected by active members of MOSERS; 1 elected by retirees.
  • MOSERS uses Egan Jones for its proxy advisory services.
  • According to its 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the MOSERS’ general investment consultant is Verus Advisory.
• The PSRS/PEERS board represents public school teachers and employees and consists of 7 members: 1 elected Public Education Employee Retirement System of Missouri (PEERS) member; 3 elected Public School Retirement System of Missouri (PSRS) members; 3 governor-appointed trustees.
  • According to its 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, PSRS/PEERS’ general investment consultant is Russell Investments.
• The LAGERS board represents local government employees and consists of 7 members: 3 elected Member Trustees, 3 elected Employer Trustees, and 1 Citizen Trustee appointed by the Governor.
  • According to its 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, LAGERS’ general investment consultant is RVK, Inc.
• The MPERS board consists of 11 members: 3 members of the state highways and transportation commission elected by the members of the commission, the superintendent of the highway patrol, and the director of the department of transportation; 1 state senator appointed by the president pro tem of the Senate; 1 state representative appointed by the speaker of the House; 1 active transportation department employee elected by the active transportation department members; 1 active highway patrol department employee elected by the active highway patrol department members; 1 retired transportation department employee elected by the retired transportation department members; 1retired highway patrol department employee elected by the retired highway patrol department members.
  • According to its 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the MPERS’ general investment consultant is NEPC.

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 MOSERS’ proxy voting records for directly owned securities through pension fund portfolios. This data was obtained by a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request since Missouri does not publicly disclose this information to its pensioners. The 1792 Exchange encourages Missouri to publish its proxy voting records instead of keeping its pensioners in the dark about how the state votes on ESG issues with their money.

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

Note: Missouri directly owns shares for a relatively small number of companies compared to other states that disclose their voting records on directly owned equities. Its Direct Voting averages are not readily comparable to other states’ Direct Voting averages.