The Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS) has been lauded once more for its financial transparency and proficient management, bagging the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for their 2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, as reported on their website. Their continued commitment to clarity in their financial dealings earned them this accolade from the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA), marking a significant 33-years streak of recognition.
According to the details made available by ASRS, the impartial panel that reviewed the comprehensive report found that ASRS met program standards which demand a "spirit of full disclosure"—the aim being clear communication of its financial status, and for a finance entity, it speaks volumes when things are kept transparent, the numbers don't lie, or so they say, and in the case of ASRS, the numbers are consistently speaking the language of prudence and accountability. The GFOA, which has been supporting finance professionals since 1906, also honored the ASRS with accolades for its Popular Annual Financial Report, a more accessible version of the complex full report.
Simultaneously, the Public Pension Coordinating Council (PPCC), a collective body including notable organizations like the National Association of State Retirement Administrators and the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems, conferred upon the ASRS the Pension Standards Award for 2022. This particular honor underscores the ASRS's adherence to professional benchmarks in the realms of plan funding and administration, verifying its status as a model for 18 consecutive years for others in the public pension arena.
On its website, the ASRS has made available both the comprehensive and simplified annual financial reports for the fiscal year that concluded on June 30, 2021. The accolades not only commend the organization's financial reporting but also underscore its strengths in plan funding and management, awards like these serve as a testament to their long-standing commitment to operative excellence, a commitment that the benefactors of such pensions certainly rely upon in their retirement years. For further details or to peruse the reports themselves, members of the public are encouraged to visit the ASRS Annual Reports page.
