The Louisiana School Employees’ Retirement System is administered by the LSERS Board of Trustees and maintained to provide benefits for current and future members and retirees in accordance with Plan provisions and the Investment Policy. The Investment Policy provides meaningful guidance and flexibility in managing the plan in normal and unforeseen market conditions. The Board is assisted in this task by the plans’ Consultant and internal Investment Staff.

Investment Consultants – help the Board establish long-term performance goals and analyzes the risk/reward tradeoffs that are likely to maximize returns for a given level of risk under varying market conditions.  They also assist in the selection of managers that are hired to make the actual investment buy/sell decisions.

Investment Staff – the Chief Investment Officer and Staff coordinate the day-to-day investment-related activities of the managers and monitor manager compliance with the Investment Policy.  They are responsible for determining that each manager is contributing to the overall plan performance while maintaining the portfolio characteristics they were hired to achieve.  The activities of the custodian bank are also monitored.  The Chief Investment Officer is responsible for keeping the Board apprised of the status of plan assets.

Custodian Bank – an independent third party that holds the assets of the Plan.  Managers notify the custodian when they complete a buy or sell of a security, as they do not have physical possession of any of the plan assets.  The custodian arranges to receive or deliver the asset vs. receipt or payment for the transaction and is responsible for collecting the income earned on the investments.