The Denver Employees Retirement Plan (DERP) has received the Public Pension Coordinating Council’s (PPCC) Public Pension Standards 2021 Awards in recognition of meeting professional standards for plan design and administration and funding. DERP has received the Recognition Award for Administration and the Recognition Award for Funding each year since 2015.
The PPCC Public Pension Standards reflect expectations for public retirement system management and administration and serve as a benchmark for all defined benefit public plans to be measured. The standards are separated into the Administrative Standard and the Funding Standard. A pension fund may qualify and receive a Recognition Certificate for either the Administration or Funding Standard, or a combination of both certificates.
To receive the Recognition Award for Administration, the retirement system must certify it meets requirements in the five areas of comprehensive benefit program, actuarial, audit, investment, and communications. To receive the Recognition Award for Funding the retirement system must certify it meets the requirements for funding adequacy. The PPCC is a coalition of three national associations that represent public retirement systems and administrators: National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA), the National Council on Teacher Retirement (NCTR), and the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS). Together, these associations represent more than 500 of the largest pension plans in the United States, serving most of the nation’s 18+ million employees of state and local government.