When Terrill Sanchez retired as deputy executive director of Pennsylvania’s $36 billion State Employees’ Retirement System, she expected to be finished with public service. But after an accounting error at Pennsylvania’s $77 billion Public School Employees Retirement System triggered a crisis that led to federal investigations and the resignations of its leaders, Sanchez had to come out of retirement to steady PSERS’ rocking ship. Now, roughly three years after becoming PSERS’ executive director, Sanchez is once again planning to retire — presumably for real this time.
On Friday, Sanchez told the board her plans to step down in June. She said in a statement that she hopes she’s left the plan better than she had found it for her successor. “Although I love working in service to others, it is time for me to bring my long tenure with PSERS and the Commonwealth to a close,” Sanchez said, adding that once she leaves the position in June, she plans “to spend quality time with [her] grandson.” The announcement of her retirement did not mention PSERS’ plans to find a successor.
Sanchez, who had been at PSERS since 1987 — 1983 if an internship counts — was deputy ED of the plan from 2008 until 2018. She then went to Pennsylvania’s State Employees’ Retirement System to serve as executive director until retiring in 2021. In 2022, Sanchez returned to PSERS to become executive director — first as an interim head in January before becoming permanent five months later — during a tumultuous period for the plan.
PSERS had been in upheaval for more than a year after a misreported nine-year investment performance triggered internal and federal investigations, lawsuits, and the system’s chief investment officer and executive director resigning. As if to emphasize the turmoil, the same month Sanchez rejoined the pension plan, a governance review found the board suffered from a “lack of clear, unified direction” “compounded by a lack of trust among” board members and executive, which was “contributing to PSERS and system dysfunctions.”
Much of the dust that was kicked up from this reporting error has since been settled — the Justice Department closed its investigation, an internal audit revealed no evidence of wrongdoing, the United Auto Workers’ Ben Cotton was appointed CIO (ending an internal push for Verus to become the plan’s permanent OCIO), and Aon, the consulting firm deemed responsible for the calculation error, settled charges with the SEC.
Board Chair Richard Vague said he was “eternally grateful for Terri’s selfless decision to return during a difficult period in PSERS’ history,” before adding: “Her tremendous intellect, grace and determination steered the board and staff into a new era of respectful cooperation and professionalism.”
PSERS returned 8.14 percent for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, surpassing the board’s policy benchmark by 107 basis points. Its three-, five-, and 10-year annualized returns were 4.61 percent, 7.60 percent, and 6.82 percent, respectively.
