New NCPERS Research Available — And Your Input is Needed

By: Matt Eckel, Director of Research, NCPERS

Two important pieces of NCPERS research are in the spotlight this spring: the 2026 Public Retirement Systems Study is now available, and the 2026 Public Pension Compensation Survey, produced in partnership with CBIZ, has just gone into the field. Read on for highlights from the former, and a strong case for why your system should participate in the latter.

2026 Public Retirement Systems Study: Now Available

The 2026 study reflects data from 149 public pension systems serving approximately 18.1 million members.

Among the headline findings:

• Funding discipline continues to drive outcomes. Systems that received their full actuarially determined contribution reported funded ratios that were a median 13.2 percentage points higher than those that did not, a consistent and consequential finding for plan sponsors and policymakers.
• Long-term investment performance remains strong. Systems with fiscal year-end dates in the first half of 2025 reported average one-year net returns of 10.2% and ten-year returns of 7.5%.
• AI adoption is picking up. Just over 35% of respondents now report using artificial intelligence for at least one purpose, from fraud detection to participant communications, up significantly from prior years.

NCPERS members can access the full report and an interactive dashboard enabling peer benchmarking by plan size, employee type, geographic region, and more.

2026 Public Pension Compensation Survey: Participate Now

Public pension systems operate in a competitive and often challenging talent environment. Attracting and retaining skilled staff, from investment professionals to IT specialists to front-line benefits administrators, requires compensation strategies grounded in real data. That’s precisely what the Public Pension Compensation Survey is designed to provide.

Recognizing the unique challenges that pension funds face with recruitment and retention, NCPERS developed the annual Public Pension Compensation Survey to help pension funds benchmark compensation and benefits packages against their peers and ensure key positions are filled with skilled and qualified staff.

Conducted annually by NCPERS and CBIZ, the survey captures compensation data on 99 positions commonly found at public pension funds, as well as details on benefits, fund oversight, salary increase planning, and bonuses.

The 2025 edition drew nearly 170 public pension funds that collectively manage $6 trillion in assets on behalf of more than 25 million active and retired members. The 2026 survey, now in the field, aims to build on that participation, and the value of the data grows with every system that contributes.

Participation is Free, and It Pays Off Directly

Systems that complete the survey receive complimentary access to the full report upon its release. Participating NCPERS members also receive access to an interactive dashboard that lets you filter the data by region, number of fund staff, or assets under management to help optimize the mix of funds against which you’d like to benchmark your organization. For HR leaders, executive directors, and board members navigating compensation decisions, that kind of tailored benchmarking intelligence is hard to come by elsewhere.

The survey data collection opened April 7, when the CBIZ team joined us for a webinar to walk through how to participate. If you missed it, view the recording here. If your system has not yet received a participation invitation or has questions about the process, please reach out to NCPERS Director of Research Matt Eckel at research@ncpers.org.