Topline: The Texas Teacher Retirement System has more debt than almost any other public pension fund in America, but the investors managing the fund are paying themselves annual bonuses that rank among the largest for any public employee in U.S. history.

The TRS paid $54.6 million in bonuses to 227 employees in 2024, even though they led the pension to two of its worst-performing years in recent memory in 2022 and 2023. There were 41 people who earned bonuses of $500,000 or more, according to data that Open the Books received through a public records request.

Key facts: Chief Investment Officer Jase Auby was the biggest earner at the TRS last year. He collected a $737,498 base salary and a $1.4 million bonus that brought his total compensation to almost $2.2 million.

Open the Books has obtained the salaries of nearly every public employee in America from 2024. There is no record of any non-university employee receiving a bonus as high as Auby’s, although some states did not provide information on bonuses.

Twenty-one other TRS executives earned $1 million or more in total compensation in 2024, including another four whose bonuses were more than $1 million.

In 2023, TRS employees were eligible to receive $24.4 million in bonuses. However, the bonuses were withheld because the pension fund’s investments performed poorly with a negative 6.7% rate of return — the worst year since at least 2015.

Rather than eliminate the 2023 bonuses, TRS Executive Director Brian Guthrie awarded them in 2024, along with almost all of the $31 million bonuses slotted for 2024. In the end, TRS executives were rewarded for overseeing one of the worst years in the pension fund’s history.

The TRS Performance Pay Plan gives Guthrie the authority to approve all bonuses and award withheld bonuses in a later year. The dollar amount is based on the success of the pension fund’s investments and “qualitative performance components” for each employee. Guthrie himself earned a $416,234 bonus in 2024 to supplement his $556,416 salary, records show.

The TRS estimates it will pay $38.2 million in bonuses in 2025.

Background: The TRS is responsible for investing and growing a pension fund that supports over 2 million teachers. As of August 2024, the trust was only 77.8% funded, meaning it would take another $60.6 billion to pay the future pensions of teachers who are currently working. Illinois and California are the only teacher retirement systems with a larger unfunded liability.

It is not unusual for investment officers to be the highest-paid public employees in their state, aside from university coaches. David G. Bronner made over $1 million in 2024 as CEO of the Retirement Systems of Alabama, as did Charles W. Cary, CIO at the Teachers Retirement System of Georgia.

Search all federal, state and local salaries and vendor spending with the world’s largest government spending database at OpenTheBooks.com. 

Supporting quote: The independent consulting firm Mercer reviewed the TRS’ executive compensation plans and found that “the plans are well designed, reflect best practice in the industry and support the overall mission of the organization.”

However, the review was conducted in July 2024, before the latest compensation plan was approved in September 2024.

Summary: Government salaries are increasing around the country, but compensation at the TRS has reached a truly unprecedented amount. Bonuses exceeding $1 million are excessive in any circumstance, but especially for a pension fund drowning in debt.