Operating Engineers Local 324 Pension Fund vs State Universities Retirement System of Illinois (SURS)
Side-by-side pension health comparison from DOL and public plan data
Operating Engineers Local 324 Pension Fund and State Universities Retirement System of Illinois (SURS) are meaningfully apart on the LakeQuality pension-health rubric: Operating Engineers Local 324 Pension Fund grades A while State Universities Retirement System of Illinois (SURS) grades D. Funding ratios: 105% vs 44%.
Operating Engineers Local 324 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
Operating Engineers Local 324 Pension Fund has a stronger Pension Health Score of 100/100 (A) compared to State Universities Retirement System of Illinois (SURS) at 42/100 (D). Funding ratios differ by 61.0 percentage points (105.1% vs 44.1%). Operating Engineers Local 324 Pension Fund covers 230,039 participants.
| Metric | Operating Engineers Local 324 Pension Fund | State Universities Retirement System of Illinois (SURS) |
|---|---|---|
| Health Score Composite of funding ratio, trend, and PBGC risk | 100/100 (A)* | 42/100 (D) |
| Funding Ratio Assets as % of liabilities (100%+ is fully funded) | 105.1%* | 44.1% |
| Total Assets | $24.8B | $22.5B |
| Total Liabilities | $23.6B* | $51.0B |
| Unfunded Liability | $0* | $28.5B |
| Participants | 230,039 | 218,000 |
| 1-Year Investment Return | 5.7%* | 5.1% |
| Plan Type | multiemployer | public |
| PBGC Risk Level | low | critical |
| Sponsor | IUOE Local 324 | State of Illinois |
Operating Engineers Local 324 Pension Fund has a stronger Pension Health Score of 100/100 (A) compared to State Universities Retirement System of Illinois (SURS) at 42/100 (D). Funding ratios differ by 61.0 percentage points (105.1% vs 44.1%). Operating Engineers Local 324 Pension Fund covers 230,039 participants.