Cook County ERS Basics
- Established 1926
- Currently open to new hires
- Plan covers local employees
- Plan members covered by Social Security
- Single employer
Assets, Participants, and Benefits
State and local government pension benefits are paid from trust funds to which public employees and their employers contributed while they were working, not from general operating revenues. Trust fund assets are invested and grow over time. The combined value of defined benefit plan assets held by state and local governments as of Q2 2022 decreased to $5.3 trillion, from $5.7 trillion as of Q2 2022 (Federal Reserve Flow of Funds, June 2024). PPD data covers the period from 2001 to the most recently available plan reports, and the historical charts presented in this page mirror the period for which PPD data are available.
Assets at Year-End, Cook County ERS, 2001-2022
| Fiscal Year |
Net Assets (billions) |
| 2001 |
5.53 |
| 2002 |
5.22 |
| 2003 |
6.06 |
| 2004 |
6.62 |
| 2005 |
6.96 |
| 2006 |
7.67 |
| 2007 |
8.07 |
| 2008 |
6.07 |
| 2009 |
6.93 |
| 2010 |
7.57 |
| 2011 |
7.44 |
| 2012 |
8.06 |
| 2013 |
8.93 |
| 2014 |
9.07 |
| 2015 |
8.64 |
| 2016 |
9.12 |
| 2017 |
10.41 |
| 2018 |
9.86 |
| 2019 |
11.49 |
| 2020 |
12.65 |
| 2021 |
14.28 |
| 2022 |
12.02 |
State and local employees make up around 10-15 percent of the US workforce. About a quarter of public sector workers are covered by a public pension in lieu of Social Security, including nearly half of all teachers and over two-thirds of firefighters and public safety officers. Public employees live in every city and county in the nation; more than 90 percent retire in the same jurisdiction where they worked. PPD data covers the period from 2001 to the most recently available plan reports, and the historical charts presented in this page mirror the period for which PPD data are available.
Number of Actives per Annuitant, 2001-2022
| Fiscal Year |
Cook County ERS |
US State and Local Pensions |
| 2001 |
2.3 |
2.4 |
| 2002 |
2.3 |
2.3 |
| 2003 |
1.9 |
2.2 |
| 2004 |
1.9 |
2.1 |
| 2005 |
1.8 |
2.1 |
| 2006 |
1.8 |
2.0 |
| 2007 |
1.6 |
2.0 |
| 2008 |
1.6 |
1.9 |
| 2009 |
1.6 |
1.9 |
| 2010 |
1.5 |
1.8 |
| 2011 |
1.4 |
1.7 |
| 2012 |
1.3 |
1.6 |
| 2013 |
1.3 |
1.5 |
| 2014 |
1.3 |
1.4 |
| 2015 |
1.2 |
1.4 |
| 2016 |
1.2 |
1.4 |
| 2017 |
1.1 |
1.4 |
| 2018 |
1.1 |
1.3 |
| 2019 |
1.0 |
1.3 |
| 2020 |
1.0 |
1.3 |
| 2021 |
0.9 |
1.2 |
| 2022 |
0.9 |
1.2 |
2022 Membership for Cook County ERS
| Actives |
Beneficiaries |
Total Membership |
| 18,107 |
20,138 |
56,264 |
Costs
The Annual Required Contribution (ARC) is the amount needed to finance benefits accrued each year, plus the cost to amortize unfunded liabilities from past years, minus required employee contributions. It is a projection that matches a yearly payment amount to a particular amortization period, taking into consideration an assortment of assumptions adopted by the plan. In practice, all plans do not calculate the ARC in the same manner. Assumptions used to calculate the ARC reflect actual plan experience, including investment return , actuarial cost, salary growth, total payroll growth and mortality, as well as an adopted amortization method. These assumptions and methods will differ from one plan another, so caution should be taken when comparing ARC between plans. PPD data covers the period from 2001 to the most recently available plan reports, and the historical charts presented in this page mirror the period for which PPD data are available.
Employer's Annual Required Contribution as a Percentage of Payroll and Portion Paid for Cook County ERS, 2008-2021
| Fiscal Year |
Portion of Employer ARC paid |
Portion of Employer ARC left unpaid |
US Avg Employer ARC |
ARC as a Percent of Payroll |
| 2008 |
10.3 |
9.1 |
11.0 |
19.4 |
| 2009 |
10.2 |
13.4 |
11.0 |
23.6 |
| 2010 |
9.7 |
20.7 |
11.6 |
30.4 |
| 2011 |
11.0 |
22.9 |
13.4 |
33.9 |
| 2012 |
10.3 |
26.2 |
14.1 |
36.5 |
| 2013 |
10.0 |
30.2 |
15.1 |
40.1 |
| 2014 |
9.6 |
26.0 |
15.7 |
35.7 |
| 2015 |
8.7 |
29.2 |
15.7 |
37.9 |
| 2016 |
26.2 |
6.6 |
15.6 |
32.9 |
| 2017 |
32.6 |
0.2 |
15.5 |
32.8 |
| 2018 |
35.8 |
0.9 |
16.2 |
36.7 |
| 2019 |
31.4 |
2.3 |
16.4 |
33.7 |
| 2020 |
30.4 |
4.6 |
16.8 |
35.0 |
| 2021 |
33.3 |
9.4 |
17.4 |
42.8 |
Actuarial Funding
While funded ratios among pension plans vary substantially, in the aggregate, public pension funding levels rose steadily during the 1990s, due largely to strong returns in global equity markets. Since then, sharp market downturns in 2000-02 and 2008-09 negatively affected asset values and increased unfunded pension liabilities and required contributions. A combination of the market downturns, insufficient contributions (for some plans), and increased benefit levels (also for some plans) resulted in a decline in aggregate funding level between 2001 and 2012, and has since remained relatively stable.
Actuarial Funded Ratio for Cook County ERS, 2001-2022
| Fiscal Year |
Cook County ERS |
National Data |
| 2001 |
88.9 |
101.7 |
| 2002 |
74.7 |
94.6 |
| 2003 |
67.5 |
88.8 |
| 2004 |
70.9 |
87.0 |
| 2005 |
75.8 |
85.4 |
| 2006 |
75.3 |
85.2 |
| 2007 |
77.3 |
86.3 |
| 2008 |
72.6 |
84.4 |
| 2009 |
63.2 |
78.4 |
| 2010 |
60.7 |
75.7 |
| 2011 |
57.5 |
74.3 |
| 2012 |
53.6 |
72.3 |
| 2013 |
56.6 |
71.8 |
| 2014 |
57.5 |
73.2 |
| 2015 |
55.4 |
73.2 |
| 2016 |
56.7 |
71.6 |
| 2017 |
60.1 |
72.0 |
| 2018 |
60.8 |
72.4 |
| 2019 |
61.2 |
72.5 |
| 2020 |
63.9 |
72.6 |
| 2021 |
67.2 |
75.8 |
| 2022 |
66.5 |
76.2 |
Investments
The major asset allocation classes presented in the PPD are generated from the specific asset classes that plans report. For consistent reporting in the PPD, the individual asset classes reported by plans are categorized as one of eight major asset classes: equity, fixed income, real estate, private equity, hedge funds, commodities, misc. alternative assets, cash, and other. For more details on the PPD allocation data please see documentation.
Asset Allocation for Cook County ERS, 2021
| Category |
Percent |
| Equities |
57.0 |
| Fixed Income |
23.0 |
| Private Equity |
8.0 |
| Real Estate |
6.0 |
| Cash |
0.0 |
| Other |
0.0 |
| Commodities |
0.0 |
| Hedge Fund |
6.0 |
| Misc. Alternatives |
0.0 |
Asset Allocation for State and Local Pensions, 2021
| Category |
Percent |
| Equities |
47.2 |
| Fixed Income |
21.8 |
| Private Equity |
11.3 |
| Real Estate |
7.9 |
| Cash |
2.1 |
| Other |
0.3 |
| Commodities |
2.1 |
| Hedge Fund |
5.7 |
| Misc. Alternatives |
1.7 |
Asset allocation for Cook County ERS, 2008-2021
| Fiscal Year |
Equities |
Fixed Income |
Private Equity |
Real Estate |
Cash |
Other |
Commodities |
Hedge Fund |
Misc. Alternatives |
| 2008 |
53.0 |
42.0 |
1.0 |
1.0 |
3.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
| 2009 |
59.0 |
36.0 |
1.0 |
1.0 |
3.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
| 2010 |
57.0 |
35.0 |
1.0 |
2.0 |
5.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
| 2011 |
42.0 |
38.0 |
1.0 |
6.0 |
13.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
| 2012 |
44.0 |
31.0 |
1.0 |
7.0 |
8.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
9.0 |
0.0 |
| 2013 |
52.0 |
24.0 |
1.0 |
8.0 |
6.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
9.0 |
0.0 |
| 2014 |
50.5 |
24.8 |
1.0 |
7.9 |
6.9 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
8.9 |
0.0 |
| 2015 |
51.0 |
24.0 |
2.0 |
9.0 |
5.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
9.0 |
0.0 |
| 2016 |
53.0 |
23.0 |
3.0 |
7.0 |
7.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
7.0 |
0.0 |
| 2017 |
60.0 |
21.0 |
3.0 |
7.0 |
3.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
6.0 |
0.0 |
| 2018 |
53.0 |
26.0 |
5.0 |
7.0 |
2.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
7.0 |
0.0 |
| 2019 |
57.0 |
22.0 |
6.0 |
6.0 |
3.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
6.0 |
0.0 |
| 2020 |
56.0 |
22.0 |
8.0 |
6.0 |
2.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
6.0 |
0.0 |
| 2021 |
57.0 |
23.0 |
8.0 |
6.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
6.0 |
0.0 |
Annual Return as of December 31 for Cook County ERS, 2001-2022
| Fiscal Year |
Cook County ERS |
Assumed return |
| 2001 |
-0.61 |
8.00 |
| 2002 |
-6.60 |
8.00 |
| 2003 |
18.80 |
8.00 |
| 2004 |
9.30 |
7.50 |
| 2005 |
4.80 |
7.50 |
| 2006 |
11.40 |
7.50 |
| 2007 |
6.30 |
7.50 |
| 2008 |
-24.50 |
7.50 |
| 2009 |
18.00 |
7.50 |
| 2010 |
12.40 |
7.50 |
| 2011 |
1.20 |
7.50 |
| 2012 |
12.50 |
7.50 |
| 2013 |
15.10 |
7.50 |
| 2014 |
5.90 |
7.50 |
| 2015 |
-0.10 |
7.50 |
| 2016 |
7.70 |
7.50 |
| 2017 |
15.35 |
7.25 |
| 2018 |
-3.79 |
7.25 |
| 2019 |
19.07 |
7.25 |
| 2020 |
12.74 |
7.25 |
| 2021 |
17.15 |
7.00 |
| 2022 |
-13.01 |
7.00 |
Annualized 5-Year Return
| Cook County ERS |
PPD Sample |
| 5.6 |
7.9 |
Annualized 10-Year Return
| Cook County ERS |
PPD Sample |
| 7.1 |
8.4 |
Cash Flows
Cash Flow vs. Total Assets (Millions)
Cook County ERS
2001-2022
| Fiscal Year |
Cash Flow |
Assets |
| 2001 |
43.0 |
5,530.1 |
| 2002 |
70.1 |
5,221.9 |
| 2003 |
-46.2 |
6,063.9 |
| 2004 |
-22.4 |
6,618.9 |
| 2005 |
13.9 |
6,964.0 |
| 2006 |
-47.8 |
7,670.8 |
| 2007 |
-82.7 |
8,069.7 |
| 2008 |
-146.0 |
6,069.3 |
| 2009 |
-159.5 |
6,929.5 |
| 2010 |
-196.0 |
7,574.7 |
| 2011 |
-219.5 |
7,441.2 |
| 2012 |
-273.2 |
8,059.9 |
| 2013 |
-316.1 |
8,927.4 |
| 2014 |
-351.6 |
9,068.4 |
| 2015 |
-407.8 |
8,643.0 |
| 2016 |
-160.9 |
9,115.7 |
| 2017 |
-112.8 |
10,407.9 |
| 2018 |
-126.9 |
9,862.0 |
| 2019 |
-243.0 |
11,491.0 |
| 2020 |
-310.6 |
12,649.6 |
| 2021 |
-333.5 |
14,281.5 |
| 2022 |
-400.4 |
12,018.7 |
2022 Cash Flows for Cook County ERS (millions)
| Inflows |
Outflows |
Investment Gains (losses) |
Change in Net Assets |
| 617.2 |
1,017.6 |
-1,862.4 |
-2,262.8 |
Note: The PPD average is for plans with a similar fiscal year end (FYE) date to the plan presented on this page.
Cash Flow as a Percentage of Assets
Cook County ERS
2001-2022
| Fiscal Year |
Cook County ERS |
National Average |
| 2001 |
0.8 |
-2.3 |
| 2002 |
1.3 |
-1.0 |
| 2003 |
-0.8 |
-2.4 |
| 2004 |
-0.3 |
-2.6 |
| 2005 |
0.2 |
-2.2 |
| 2006 |
-0.6 |
-2.2 |
| 2007 |
-1.0 |
-2.2 |
| 2008 |
-2.4 |
-2.9 |
| 2009 |
-2.3 |
-3.2 |
| 2010 |
-2.6 |
-3.2 |
| 2011 |
-2.9 |
-3.4 |
| 2012 |
-3.4 |
-3.3 |
| 2013 |
-3.5 |
-3.1 |
| 2014 |
-3.9 |
-2.9 |
| 2015 |
-4.7 |
-3.1 |
| 2016 |
-1.8 |
-3.2 |
| 2017 |
-1.1 |
-2.9 |
| 2018 |
-1.3 |
-3.1 |
| 2019 |
-2.1 |
-3.1 |
| 2020 |
-2.5 |
-2.8 |
| 2021 |
-2.3 |
-2.5 |
| 2022 |
-3.3 |
-2.9 |
2022 Financial Reports
Benefits
Website for Cook County ERS benefit descriptions.
