Gary Nicholas

This strategic plan outlines the agency's direction to empower public workers to retire with confidence, striving for a vision where every customer enjoys financial security and success. The plan is structured around four main goals: delivering an exceptional customer experience, empowering the team to serve with excellence, strengthening the connected retirement ecosystem, and advancing operational excellence. It includes 28 strategic initiatives scheduled for implementation over the next five or more years.

The committee reviewed the Washington State Investment Board's quarterly performance, noting strong equity market returns alongside risks such as inflation and interest rate fluctuations. The Office of the State Actuary provided updates on studies affecting LEOFF Plan 1 and an economic experience review. The agency director shared operational metrics, improvements in customer service, and progress on the CORE Pension Administration Modernization system. Furthermore, the committee discussed the agency's new six-year strategic planning process and reviewed upcoming legislative session items, including technical and cost-neutral pension-related bills.

The Department of Retirement Systems (DRS) Advisory Committee meeting included discussions on the Washington State Investment Board (WSIB) quarterly performance update, which covered the market environment, risks, and opportunities, as well as updates on market values and performance for Plans 3 and the Deferred Compensation Program (DCP). The DRS Director provided an agency update, including Leadership Team transitions and updates on the CORE PAM and LexisNexus projects. Additionally, the committee discussed the CEM Benchmark Report and pension legislation impacting the pension systems.

The 2024 Strategic Plan for the Department of Retirement Systems (DRS) focuses on providing reliable, equitable, and financially sound services to over 330,000 Washington public employees. Key strategies include supporting team member growth, adopting secure and flexible tools with accurate data, implementing leadership development, maturing organizational governance, and adopting dynamic talent acquisition. The plan also aims to reduce fraud, develop a holistic communications strategy, monitor best practices for increasing retirement savings, re-imagine retirement-related business processes, and increase the linkage of budgeted resources to projected workload.

The Department of Retirement Systems' 2024 Strategic Plan focuses on providing reliable, equitable, and financially sound retirement benefits to public employees. Key strategies include supporting team member growth, adopting modern tools with accurate data, developing leadership, maturing organizational governance, and enhancing talent acquisition. The plan also aims to reduce fraud, improve communication, promote retirement savings, re-imagine business processes, and better link resources to workload.