Category: Newsroom

You may now submit or update your beneficiary designation(s) electronically by logging into MyLAFPP, your member self-service portal. Updating your beneficiary designation through MyLAFPP is the fastest, easiest, and secure way to make beneficiary changes. Your changes will immediately update your pension record without any delays!

As an active member, it is very important to maintain a current beneficiary designation with LAFPP. Doing so ensures that your pension contributions and accrued interest will be paid to the person(s) of your choice and the refund will not be delayed by probate, regardless of your estate’s value.

Click here to learn more on why it is important to designate a beneficiary and how to submit/update your beneficiary designation online.

A life changing event may have an impact on your pension and on the eligibility of your survivor(s) upon your death as an active or retired member.

It is important that you update your information with LAFPP when a major life event occurs, such as a marriage, the birth of a child, or a divorce. Updating your information may require official documentation, which may include:

• Certified copies of marriage certificates
• Birth certificates
• Divorce decrees

Please review the Qualified Survivor Handbook for more information on survivor benefits.

Submit your documentation to LAFPP via email at pensions@lafpp.com. For questions regarding dissolution of marriage or beneficiary designations, please contact the Active Member Services Section at (213) 279-3140 or via email at amssection@lafpp.com. For questions regarding survivor benefit eligibility, please contact the Disability Pensions Section at (213) 279-3165 or via email at disability@lafpp.com.

The Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) is 1.0% for 2021 and was approved by the Board of Fire and Police Pension Commissioners on March 18, 2021. The COLA will be effective July 1, 2021, and all eligible pensioners and Deferred Retirement Option Plan (DROP) participants will receive an increase accordingly, beginning with the pension payment dated July 31, 2021. For new pensioners or DROP entrants in Tiers 3-6, the first year’s COLA is prorated based on the number of complete months since the pension effective date, therefore these members may not receive the full 1.0%.

• Tiers 1 & 2 retirees, beneficiaries, and DROP participants will receive 1.0%.
• Tiers 3 & 4 retirees, beneficiaries, and DROP participants will receive up to 1.0%.
• Tiers 5 & 6 retirees, beneficiaries, and DROP participants will receive up to 1.0%, and those with an available COLA bank balance will withdraw up to 0.5% from their COLA bank*, for a total COLA of up to 1.5%. (NOTE: This leaves the COLA bank with a zero balance.)

*Must have retired or entered DROP with a pension effective date prior to June 2, 2020, in order to have an available COLA bank balance.

LAFPP has amended the Domestic Partnership filing requirements to recognize filings with other departments or agencies. If you are considering filing a domestic partnership or already have an established filing, please review the new updates.

Your Qualified Domestic Partner may receive a lifelong survivor’s pension benefit, provided all eligibility and notification requirements are met or submitted upon your death. Qualified Domestic Partners receive the same survivorship benefits available under the Plan as a Qualified Surviving Spouse. You can read about survivor benefits in the Summary Plan Description for your Tier.

Click here to learn more on Domestic Partnership filing updates.

Los Angles Fire and Police Pensions (LAFPP) reports a strong internal rate of return of 11.2% for its Specialized Manager Program through June 30, 2020. The semi-annual review of LAFPP’s Specialized Private Equity Program was presented to the Board of Fire and Police Pension Commissioners on February 18, 2021 and highlighted the success of the Program since its inception.

LAFPP’s Private Equity Portfolio is comprised of the Core and Specialized Manager Programs. The Specialized Private Equity portfolio was established in 1996 and includes first-, second-, and third-time funds that range in size from approximately $100 million to $500 million. Through this program, LAFPP has made commitments to Specialized private equity emerging managers that have included firms with minority-, women- and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer- (LGBTQ+) ownership. Additionally, LAFPP has made fund commitments to emerging managers that are based in the City of Los Angeles or California, or targeted investments in economically disadvantaged markets. Since inception, the Specialized Manager Program has generated a net Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 11.2% and a 1.57x net return multiple.

The Specialized Manager Program has achieved results similar to the Core Portfolio, which had a net IRR since inception of 11.5% and a 1.61x net return multiple. Currently, both Portfolio Advisors and Fairview Capital manage the Specialized Private Equity portfolio for LAFPP.

Both the Specialized Manager Program and the Core Portfolio have performed well and are fulfilling the role they play in LAFPP’s asset allocation plan. Brian Pendleton, President of the Board commented, “The effort and the little extra risk to invest in these specialized managers have given us incredible returns!”

Together, Fairview and Portfolio Advisors have reviewed over a thousand funds since the start of the program, with the focus on selecting high quality investments. So far, the Board has approved 81 funds as part of the Specialized Manager Program.

For more information on the LAFPP Private Equity Specialized Manager Program, please visit www.lafpp.com/private-equity-specialized-manager-program.

ABOUT LAFPP

LAFPP oversees the pension fund for sworn members of City of Los Angeles Fire, Police, Airport and Port departments. The fund is currently valued at over $28 billion in assets and serves over 27,000 members and beneficiaries.

Police officers and other law enforcement professionals are integral within our societal framework and must be protected. The Board of Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions (Board) strongly urge you as Director of Los Angeles County’s Public Health Department to immediately prioritize police officers and other law enforcement professionals by authorizing the immediate availability of vaccinations for these professionals.

The 2020 Annual Report for Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions is available online!

LAFPP is pleased to present our 2020 Annual Report. This report provides financial information, such as the department’s budget summary, investment performance, asset allocation data, plan actuarial data, statistical information, and a summary of plan provisions for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020.

Some of the highlights in this year’s report include:

• The System serves approximately 27,352 members, including active, DROP, deferred vested, and retired members and beneficiaries.
• Pension benefits were actuarially funded at 93.2% (change of -0.4%) and health subsidy benefits were funded at 59.7% (change of +3.5%). The combined funded status for pension and health benefits is 88.6% (change of 0.1%).
• System assets totaled $23.5 billion on a market value basis.
• The investment rate of return for Fiscal Year 2019-20 was 3.04%.

LAFPP continues to grow as an organization as we strive to be a leader and innovator in the public pension industry. The Board and staff continue to adhere to prudent and sound investment strategies to grow and protect Plan assets over the long-term to secure the retirement benefits of our members.

In addition to this report, our historical annual reports, actuarial valuations, and financial statements are available on our website under Financial Reports.

Based on the actuarial report for the period ending June 30, 2023, the combined funded ratio for pension and health benefits is 96.8%, up from 95.0% the previous year. This marks the sixth consecutive year that the combined funded ratio has increased for the System. The pension benefit funded ratio is now 99.5%, up from 98.0%, and the retiree health benefit funded ratio increased from 74.3% to 77.7%. The favorable results indicate that the Plan remains strong despite another volatile year marked by the continuing high inflation and financial market volatility.

Every year a valuation of the LAFPP fund is performed by the Board’s actuary. The valuation reviews the System’s assets and liabilities and establishes the City’s (including the Harbor and Airport Departments) contribution to the fund for each fiscal year. The City’s combined contribution rate for July 15, 2024, will decrease by 1.90% of sworn payroll, from 40.41% to 38.51%. The contribution rate decrease is due to a higher than expected return on the valuation value of assets (after smoothing) and changes in assumptions, partially offset by higher than expected COLA increases for retirees and beneficiaries and higher than expected salary increases for active members. The overall unfunded liabilities have decreased from $1.5 billion to $975 million.

The actuarial valuation reports can be found on the Financial Reports page of our website.

The Social Security Administration has designated March 7, 2024, as national “Slam the Scam” day to raise awareness of imposter scams. An imposter scam is when criminals claim to be representatives from well-known government agencies to deceive people into providing personal information or money. There are ways to protect yourself and prevent you from falling victim to these types of predators.  

Here are some tips on how to protect yourself from scammers:

• Don’t answer your phone if you receive a call from a phone number you do not recognize.
• Don’t give out personal or pension related information when you receive a call, email, text message or direct message on social media by someone saying they work for a government agency. If you do receive a call, hang up and call the official number found on the agency’s website. If you get an email or text from a government agency, you know and do business with, contact them using a website you know is real. Look up their real email address or phone number — but don’t call the number they give you or the number from your caller ID.
• LAFPP staff will occasionally call our members and beneficiaries. If you receive a call and you are not sure it is LAFPP staff, get their name, hang up and call our toll-free number found on our website to continue the conversation.
• A government agency will not threaten or pressure you to take immediate action. Nor will a government agency ask you to pay with gift cards, prepaid debit cards, wire transfers, cryptocurrency or by mailing cash.
• Don’t include any personally identifiable information (PII) in your email messages, such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers, or addresses. 
• Do periodically update your security software and passwords. This will protect your computer and cell phone from security threats, which could expose your personal or financial information to scammers.
• Exercise caution when you receive solicitations for financial services from unaffiliated third parties. LAFPP is not affiliated with, nor do we endorse any financial planning services for retirees.  

For additional information on LAFPP’s ongoing commitment to keeping member data/information safe and secure please visit lafpp.com/cybersecurity.

Based on the actuarial report for the period ending June 30, 2022, the combined funded ratio for pension and health benefits is 95.0%, up from 92.5% the previous year. This marks the fifth consecutive year that the combined funded ratio has increased for the System. The pension benefit funded ratio is now 98.0%, up from 96.8%, and the retiree health benefit funded ratio increased from 64.7% to 74.3%. The favorable results indicate that the Plan remains strong despite another volatile year marked by the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, high inflation, and financial market volatility.

Every year a valuation of the LAFPP fund is performed by the Board’s actuary. The valuation reviews the System’s assets and liabilities and establishes the City’s (including the Harbor and Airport Departments) contribution to the fund for each fiscal year. The City’s combined contribution rate for July 15, 2023, will decrease by 1.26% of sworn payroll, from 41.67% to 40.41%. The contribution rate decrease is due to a higher than expected return on the valuation value of assets (after smoothing), lower than expected salary increases for active members, higher than expected employer contributions, and lower health plan premiums and subsidies than projected in the prior valuation. The overall unfunded liabilities have decreased from $2.1 billion to $1.5 billion.

The actuarial valuation reports can be found on the Financial Reports page of our website.