The Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) has released its biennial management audit of SWIB. LAB conducts program evaluation audits of state agencies. The Bureau's purpose is to provide assurance to the Legislature that management decisions are made effectively, efficiently and in compliance with state law and that state agencies carry out the policies of the Legislature and the governor.
Reports are submitted to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee and are made available to other committees of the Legislature and to the public.
Click here to read SWIB's response to the audit.
Click here to read LAB's briefing sheet.
Click here to read the full audit report.
Key Points
LAB's audit report focuses on four areas: Investment strategy and performance of the Wisconsin Retirement System, investment and operating expenses, Wisconsin venture capital investments, and board oversight. Here is some additional information to the highlights noted in the report.
The Core and Variable funds beat their three-, five- and ten-year benchmarks as of December 31, 2015. Returns have been strong through September 2016 with the Core Fund beating all of its benchmarks as of that date and returning 8.2 percent year-to-date and 8.8 percent over the past five-years net of fees.
SWIB's investment strategy is disciplined, balanced and focused on long-term results. SWIB invests first to protect the pension plan from the impact of another major market downturn and then to earn reasonable returns.
SWIB saved $344 million over the past ten years when compared to its peers, which is more than our total cost in 2015. SWIB's 2015 costs were also the second lowest in its peer group of 15 large pension funds.
SWIB's incentive compensation plan is a true pay for performance plan and is working as designed based on the high caliber professionals that SWIB needs to attract and retain.
The Board of Trustees places a priority on governance and examines itself each year through a self-evaluation facilitated by its governance consultant.
Need More Information?
Click here to contact SWIB with questions or for more information about the audit report.