The New Hampshire Retirement System has hired Raynald Leveque to serve as Chief Investment Officer (CIO), effective October 1.
The NHRS Board of Trustees certified employer contribution rates for fiscal years 2024 and 2025 at its meeting on July 12, 2022. Employer contribution rates for the four membership classifications – Employee, Teacher, Police, and Fire – will decrease from the current rates beginning July 1, 2023.
Seven bills related to RSA 100-A were enacted by the New Hampshire Legislature during the 2022 session and signed into law by the Governor.
Legislation enacted in 2022 will provide a one-time $500 payment to more than 23,000 eligible retirees or beneficiaries receiving a benefit from NHRS.
Legislation enacted in 2022 will modify the calculation of compensation paid in excess of the full base rate of pay under the definition of Average Final Compensation for Group II (Police and Fire) members who commenced service prior to July 1, 2011, and who had not attained vested status prior to January 1, 2012.
Legislation enacted in 2022 will require the State of New Hampshire to reimburse 7.5 percent of local employer contributions to NHRS made in fiscal year 2022 for Group I teachers and Group II police and fire members.
Legislation enacted in 2022 will allow active members who commenced Group II (Police and Fire) service between January 1, 2002, and June 30, 2011, to purchase nonqualified service time in order to reduce the minimum age and service requirements for retirement that were enacted in 2011. Implementation of SB 363 requires significant computer programming and NHRS is unable to accept requests for service purchase cost calculations until the law takes effect.
NHRS will no longer accept email attachments to its general information email address effective August 1, 2022.
The NHRS Independent Investment Committee unanimously voted to direct its external separate-account managers to sell the Russian assets held in the NHRS portfolio as soon as practical and prudent. As of March 1, the combined value of these investments was just under $4 million, or 0.00035 percent of a total portfolio of nearly $11.5 billion.
NHRS realized a 29.4% return on investments in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021. The three-year, five-year, 10-year, 20-year, and 25-year returns for the periods ended June 30, 2021, were 11.4%, 11.3%, 9.3%, 7.2%, and 7.9%, respectively. All returns are net of fees. The 29.4% return exceeded the total fund benchmark of 24.3%.
Germano Martins was recently appointed to the New Hampshire Retirement System Board of Trustees as a public employee member.
NHRS has added a secure document upload feature to 'My Account,' our online portal for members and benefit recipients.
The NHRS office in Concord reopened for abbreviated walk-in services effective July 1, 2021. Walk-in services are currently limited to paperwork drop-off/review, notarizations and general questions, and subject to a 15-minute maximum. Walk-in services are available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Our foyer remains open 8 a.m.-4 p.m. for limited-contact drop-off of materials using our secure drop-box.
One bill related to NHRS was enacted by the New Hampshire Legislature during the 2021 session and signed into law by the Governor. The bill has no impact on members or retirees.
With the expiration of Gov. Sununu’s COVID-19 state of emergency order (Executive Order 2021-10) on June 11, all hours worked by New Hampshire Retirement System (NHRS) retirees for participating employers on or after June 12, 2021, will count toward the annual statutory limits on retiree work hours.
In an effort to inform stakeholders and other interested parties, the NHRS has developed “NHRS … Now You Know,” a series of issue briefs designed to provide plain talk about some of the topics concerning the retirement system.
Ken Merrifield was recently appointed to the NHRS Board of Trustees as an employer member representing the state.
The NHRS Board of Trustees has named Jan Goodwin to lead the retirement system as Executive Director, effective April 1, 2021. Goodwin is joining NHRS after leading the New Mexico Educational Retirement Board (NMERB) since 2008. She replaces George Lagos, who is retiring March 1.
As part of its ongoing commitment to provide superior customer service, NHRS has created a contact center to more efficiently address inquiries from members and benefit recipients.
Andrew Martineau was recently appointed to the New Hampshire Retirement System Board of Trustees as the firefighter member.