PERS deferred-comp plans post gains; committee adds T. Rowe Price to MDC watch list

The Public Employees Retirement System of Mississippi (PERS) Investment Committee on Aug. 23 reviewed results for the participant-directed MDC and the ORP platforms and voted to add the T. Rowe Price International Growth Trust to the MDC watch list.

Committee materials showed the MDC’s total assets closed June 30 “just shy of $2,500,000,000,” with domestic equity representing more than 55 percent of plan assets. A committee presenter said most asset classes produced positive unrealized gains for the quarter and that realized long‑term returns generally exceeded benchmarks and peer medians.

The committee moved the T. Rowe Price International Growth Trust to the MDC watch list after a presentation explaining that the strategy has trailed its benchmark on rolling three‑ and five‑year returns and ranked below the committee’s preferred percentile range. Ryan Holiday of the plan’s investment consultant said, “we wanna add T. Rowe Price International Growth Trust to the watch list.” The motion carried by voice vote.

Empower, the retirement recordkeeper for the plans, gave its annual participant engagement and operations update. Empower told the committee the combined deferred-comp plan balance at fiscal‑year end 2025 was about $2.5 billion and that net distributions continued to outpace contributions over the past 12 months. Empower reported roughly $71 million in contributions to the plan during the 12‑month period and about $199 million in distributions out of the plan over the same span.

Shannon Dice, managing director and direct relationship manager for Empower, highlighted account‑protection measures and the firm’s security guarantee. “We will restore their account, a 100,” Dice said, describing Empower’s fraud‑recovery promise for registered participants. Dice and other Empower staff urged more participants to register online to access protections and noted roughly one‑third of participants had never logged in at all.

Empower and PERS staff described participant mix and account movement. Empower said 2,080 accounts that existed at the end of fiscal 2024 did not appear at the end of fiscal 2025, and that about 300 participants who took full distributions had average balances just over $301,000; 15 accounts exceeded $1 million with an average of about $1.5 million. Empower also said the average account balance for active participants was about $67,002 at fiscal‑year end 2025.

The committee and Empower discussed recent changes under the SECURE Act and SECURE Act 2.0, including planned Roth catch‑up rules: Empower said that when the Roth catch‑up changes are implemented, catch‑up contributions for some higher earners would be required to be Roth‑designated; staff advised that the board’s pending Roth legislation would preserve catch‑up ability for participants under the $145,000 income threshold cited in the discussion.

Empower described participant engagement efforts: advisers held nearly 3,500 meetings in the plan year and reported that 76 percent of one‑on‑one adviser meetings resulted in an implemented outcome such as a deferral increase or investment change. The firm also discussed the “Empower communications engine,” automated messaging to drive registration, beneficiary updates and adviser bookings.

Votes at a glance • Add T. Rowe Price International Growth Trust to MDC watch list — Motion carried by voice vote (no roll‑call tally recorded).

Why it matters PERS trustees and plan staff framed the session as both a performance review and a risk‑management update: long‑term investment performance for participant funds and low plan fees were highlighted, while operations discussion focused on participant protections, large distributions and the effect of legislative Roth changes on catch‑up rules.

What’s next PERS staff said the oversight committee will continue to monitor watch‑list managers and follow Empower’s work to raise registration and engagement rates.