Los Angeles City Employees Retirement System (LACERS)
public plan · City of Los Angeles · Los Angeles, CA
Los Angeles City Employees Retirement System (LACERS) is moderately funded at 76% — assets of $20.1B against $26.5B in actuarial liabilities. Unfunded liability sits at $6.4B. Plans in this band are common and often follow regulatory amortization schedules to close the gap over time.
Los Angeles City Employees Retirement System (LACERS) is a government pension plan administered by City of Los Angeles. Unlike private corporate plans, the benefit guarantee flows from the sponsoring government's ongoing tax authority and contribution obligations rather than from federal insurance. The plan remains active — accruing new benefits for current employees and accepting new participants. Among private-sector single-employer plans, the active status is increasingly rare as employers freeze accruals while continuing to fund existing obligations; public-sector plans are more often still actively accruing.
Los Angeles City Employees Retirement System (LACERS) is among the larger U.S. pension plans by asset base ($20.1B). The participant pool of 49,000 divides into 25,000 actives and 24,000 retirees, a mix that shapes both cash-flow profile and investment-horizon choices. Active and retired participants are roughly balanced (25,000 active, 24,000 retired). The plan is in a steady-state cash-flow phase where new accruals offset benefit payments. Annual cash flows: $1.1B in sponsor contributions versus $1.3B in benefit payments. Investment performance over the most recent year ran 5.9%, against the plan's assumed long-term return of 7.0%.
PBGC risk classification: moderate. The plan's funded status puts it under enhanced monitoring but not active intervention. Public plans like Los Angeles City Employees Retirement System (LACERS) are not PBGC-insured. The benefit guarantee rests on the sponsoring government's ability and willingness to make required contributions, which interacts with state and local tax-base dynamics.
Source: DOL EFAST2 Form 5500 filings and Boston College CRR Public Plans Database.
Funding History
What This Means for You
Los Angeles City Employees Retirement System (LACERS) is in good financial health at 76% funded. This means for every dollar the plan owes in future benefits, it has 76 cents in assets to cover it. As a public pension, benefits are typically backed by the taxing authority of the sponsoring government. Participants in this plan have relatively low risk of benefit reductions.
Year-by-Year Funding
| Year | Assets | Liabilities | Funding Ratio | Contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | $20.1B | $26.5B | 75.8% | $1.1B |
| 2022 | $19.5B | $26.3B | 74.0% | $1.1B |
| 2021 | $18.9B | $24.5B | 77.0% | $1.0B |
| 2020 | $18.3B | $25.8B | 71.0% | $1.0B |
| 2019 | $17.7B | $24.2B | 73.0% | $968.0M |
Frequently Asked Questions
Los Angeles City Employees Retirement System (LACERS) is 76% funded, meaning it has 76 cents in assets for every dollar in future benefit obligations. This is below the 80% threshold actuaries consider healthy, and may require increased contributions.
Los Angeles City Employees Retirement System (LACERS) has 49,000 total participants, including 25,000 active employees and 24,000 retirees currently receiving benefits.
Los Angeles City Employees Retirement System (LACERS) is not covered by the PBGC. Benefits depend entirely on the plan's assets and the sponsor's ability to fund it.
The Pension Health Score (0-100, A-F) measures a pension plan's financial strength based on funding ratio (50%), funding trend over 3 years (30%), and PBGC risk level (20%). Higher scores indicate more secure retirement benefits.
Pension Health Score is calculated from funding ratio, 3-year funding trend, and PBGC risk classification.