By Christine Giordano
She swept in to save the day, and now she’s retiring, again.
Terrill “Terri” J. Sanchez, executive director of the $76b Public School
Employees’ Retirement System of Pennsylvania (PSERS), has submitted her
resignation and will retire in June, according to a PSERS press release issued
on Friday.
She had rejoined PSERS in “an emergency
capacity in January 2022 to fill a leadership vacancy” when the fund faced
a tumultuous year as both the executive director and chief investment officer
retired due to a consultant calculation error. She was named permanent
executive director five months later, and guided in new chief investment
officer, Ben Cotton, who began at the fund in January, 2023.
Sanchez, who has been in the industry for four decades, and
whom PSERS dubbed a “trailblazer,” as the first woman executive director since
the organization was officially founded in 1917, will leave her office on June
27, 2025.
Sanchez joined PSERS in 1987 upon graduating from Lock Haven
University’s computer science program, and quickly spearheaded PSERS’ pension
administration system’s computer modernization initiatives, rising to the
position of Deputy Executive Director over the course of her tenure. In April
of 2018, she left PSERS to become the State Employees’ Retirement System’s
executive director, retiring three years later.
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“I am eternally grateful for Terri’s selfless decision to
return during a difficult period in PSERS’ history,” said Board Chairman
Richard Vague, in the release. “Her tremendous intellect, grace and
determination steered the Board and staff into a new era of respectful
cooperation and professionalism.”
“If anyone deserves
to retire – permanently – it is Terri Sanchez,” added Vice Chairwoman Sue
Lemmo. “Through her leadership, PSERS tightened its procedures and launched a
strategic plan that strengthens our mission ‘to fulfill the promise of a secure
retirement’ and instills ‘the highest standards of ethics and accountability’
across the agency.”
Sanchez, the agency’s 10th executive director, thanked the
Board and staff for their trust. “I have always had a strong desire to ‘make
things happen’ and to leave a position or organization better than I had found
it,” she said. “I hope that is how I leave PSERS for the next phase of my life
and for my successor.”
In 2024, PSERS reported returns of 8.14% that beat the
benchmark by 107 bps against a fund record of 4.61% for 3 years; 7.60% for
5 years; 6.82% for 10 years; 8.54% for 15 years; and 7.05% for 20 years.
As of June 30, 2024, PSERS has a membership of about 255,650
active, 253,900 retired school employees and beneficiaries, and 26,330 vested
inactive members.
service to others, it is time for me to bring my long tenure with PSERS and the Commonwealth to a
close. I plan to spend quality time with my grandson, giving him what I hope will be the first of many
‘best summers of his life.’”
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