California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) vs Los Angeles Fire & Police Pensions (LAFPP)
Side-by-side pension health comparison from DOL and public plan data
California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) and Los Angeles Fire & Police Pensions (LAFPP) are meaningfully apart on the LakeQuality pension-health rubric: California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) grades C while Los Angeles Fire & Police Pensions (LAFPP) grades A. Funding ratios: 67% vs 90%.
Los Angeles Fire & Police Pensions (LAFPP) comes out ahead on the composite rubric. For a participant in either plan, the spread is informative but not directly actionable — pension participation is not portable, so the relevant question is what each plan's funded-status trajectory means for that participant's benefit security.
Verdict
Los Angeles Fire & Police Pensions (LAFPP) has a stronger Pension Health Score of 84/100 (A) compared to California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) at 58/100 (C). Funding ratios differ by 22.2 percentage points (89.5% vs 67.3%). Los Angeles Fire & Police Pensions (LAFPP) covers 27,500 participants.
| Metric | California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) | Los Angeles Fire & Police Pensions (LAFPP) |
|---|---|---|
| Health Score Composite of funding ratio, trend, and PBGC risk | 58/100 (C) | 84/100 (A)* |
| Funding Ratio Assets as % of liabilities (100%+ is fully funded) | 67.3% | 89.5%* |
| Total Assets | $473.0B | $31.2B |
| Total Liabilities | $703.0B | $34.9B* |
| Unfunded Liability | $230.0B | $3.7B* |
| Participants | 2,050,000 | 27,500 |
| 1-Year Investment Return | 5.8% | 6.5%* |
| Plan Type | public | public |
| PBGC Risk Level | moderate | low |
| Sponsor | State of California | City of Los Angeles |
Los Angeles Fire & Police Pensions (LAFPP) has a stronger Pension Health Score of 84/100 (A) compared to California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) at 58/100 (C). Funding ratios differ by 22.2 percentage points (89.5% vs 67.3%). Los Angeles Fire & Police Pensions (LAFPP) covers 27,500 participants.
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