The CAFR along with the updates found on this website will be excellent resources for keeping abreast of the COAERS investment portfolio. The Investment Policy Statement is the governing policy document for the System’s investments and is also an excellent resource.

The Board retains an investment consulting firm to monitor and recommend current and potential investment service providers. Any potential investment service provider must be vetted by the Board's retained investment consultant. The investment consulting firm currently serving the Board is RVK of Portland, Oregon.

Diversification across a variety of asset classes in conjunction with a disciplined rebalancing process is the primary means of managing investment risk.

Investment performance is a function of income received and changes in the market value of assets. Unless otherwise indicated, performance for periods of one year or more is reported as an annualized time-weighted rate of return. Performance for periods less than one year are unannualized time-weighted rates of return.

The Board follows a systematic decision-making process where investment decisions are prioritized according to their impact on long term returns of the System's total portfolio. Accordingly, asset allocation is the highest priority. Next in priority is asset class structure which followed by investment manager and finally ancillary services. A periodic review cycle is followed for asset allocation and asset class structure where investment manager and ancillary service decisions are made on an as needed basis. All investment-related decisions will be in the form of recommendations from the Investment Committee to the Board. The Board has the final authority for approving all non-delegated investment decisions.

The actuarial expected rate of return is 7.50%. It is the sum of the expected inflation rate of 2.75% and the expected real return on investments of 4.75%. The expected real return on investments is determined by the expected real returns of the asset classes and their respective proportions according to the System's strategic asset allocation.