OPERF expands emissions reporting amid investment overhaul

The Oregon State Treasury, which manages the assets for the $104.6bn Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund (OPERF), is ramping up its emissions reporting amid a wider overhaul of its strategic asset allocation

OPERF is set to expand its emissions disclosure rules for private market assets, as the fund expands its exposure to real assets and introduces a separate credit sleeve.

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From September on, the fund is planning to cut back its equity and fixed income allocations from 27.5% to 26% and 25% to 20% respectively, whilst investments in real assets are set to increase from 7.5% to 10% and a new 7.5% credit sleeve is being introduced.

As part of these revamped efforts, the Treasury said it plans to expand GHG emissions data collection to include information from private market investors whilst engaging with investee companies on their transition strategies.

To meet this ambition, the Treasury plans to hire an additional engagement expert.

The Treasury has also commissioned independent advisory firm Oakledge Advisors to convene a group of institutional investors that have highly diversified portfolios to identify and promote solutions to issues in carbon accounting unique to investors with large complex portfolios.

The new collaboration will be open to other asset owners with complex portfolios including pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, endowments, foundations.

Highlighting the importance of tackling climate change, Oregon State Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner said: "Climate risks and opportunities as well as other social and governance issues are material to our investments. Managing these risks and opportunities is vital to growing the pension fund. Evidence shows that companies that are paying attention to these risks and opportunities will have better bottom line results over the long-term."

Oregon passed the Climate Resilience Investment Act (CRIA) last year, which directs Treasury to track progress in climate-positive investments, safeguard the long-term value of the state public employee retirement fund, and produce regular reports to the legislature.

The fund aims to reduce its portfolio carbon intensity by 60% by 2035, then net zero by 2050, with emissions across listed assets falling sharply over the past few years. OPERF has also doubled its allocations to climate-positive real assets, from $1.2bn in early 2022 to $2.4bn by mid-2025. While the fund does not yet have a hard target for investments in climate solutions, increased allocations to real assets and private credit could offer scope for further commitments.