Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund vs Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS)
Side-by-side pension health comparison from DOL and public plan data
Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund and Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS) are meaningfully apart on the LakeQuality pension-health rubric: Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund grades A while Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS) grades B. Funding ratios: 94% vs 72%.
Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund 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
Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund has a stronger Pension Health Score of 97/100 (A) compared to Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS) at 68/100 (B). Funding ratios differ by 21.8 percentage points (94.1% vs 72.3%). Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund covers 634,861 participants.
| Metric | Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund | Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS) |
|---|---|---|
| Health Score Composite of funding ratio, trend, and PBGC risk | 97/100 (A)* | 68/100 (B) |
| Funding Ratio Assets as % of liabilities (100%+ is fully funded) | 94.1%* | 72.3% |
| Total Assets | $55.6B | $24.8B |
| Total Liabilities | $59.1B | $34.3B* |
| Unfunded Liability | $3.5B* | $9.5B |
| Participants | 634,861 | 328,000 |
| 1-Year Investment Return | 4.5% | 5.9%* |
| Plan Type | multiemployer | public |
| PBGC Risk Level | low | moderate |
| Sponsor | Teamsters Central States | State of Kansas |
Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund has a stronger Pension Health Score of 97/100 (A) compared to Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS) at 68/100 (B). Funding ratios differ by 21.8 percentage points (94.1% vs 72.3%). Central States, Southeast & Southwest Areas Pension Fund covers 634,861 participants.