Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS) vs State Universities Retirement System of Illinois (SURS)
Side-by-side pension health comparison from DOL and public plan data
Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS) and State Universities Retirement System of Illinois (SURS) are meaningfully apart on the PensionRisk pension-health rubric: Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS) grades A while State Universities Retirement System of Illinois (SURS) grades D. Funding ratios: 85% vs 44%.
Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS) 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
Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS) has a stronger Pension Health Score of 80/100 (A) compared to State Universities Retirement System of Illinois (SURS) at 42/100 (D). Funding ratios differ by 40.7 percentage points (84.8% vs 44.1%). Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS) covers 372,000 participants.
| Metric | Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS) | State Universities Retirement System of Illinois (SURS) |
|---|---|---|
| Health Score Composite of funding ratio, trend, and PBGC risk | 80/100 (A)* | 42/100 (D) |
| Funding Ratio Assets as % of liabilities (100%+ is fully funded) | 84.8%* | 44.1% |
| Total Assets | $35.5B | $22.5B |
| Total Liabilities | $41.9B* | $51.0B |
| Unfunded Liability | $6.4B* | $28.5B |
| Participants | 372,000 | 218,000 |
| 1-Year Investment Return | 6.4%* | 5.1% |
| Plan Type | public | public |
| PBGC Risk Level | low | critical |
| Sponsor | State of Iowa | State of Illinois |
Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS) has a stronger Pension Health Score of 80/100 (A) compared to State Universities Retirement System of Illinois (SURS) at 42/100 (D). Funding ratios differ by 40.7 percentage points (84.8% vs 44.1%). Iowa Public Employees Retirement System (IPERS) covers 372,000 participants.
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