Member-Directed Plan Manage Your Investment Account Today

One of the most important features of the Member-Directed Plan is the flexibility you have to make investment decisions suitable for your individual needs.

Since you are directing your investments and accepting the risk, be prepared to take an active role.

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Your Investment Options

Effective March 14, 2022, OPERS will offer new funds.
Learn more about these new Funds

You can choose from OPERS' six stock index funds, 10 target date funds, a Self-Directed Brokerage Account or any combination of all three.

Remember:

In the Member-Directed plan you get to choose how to invest your account. Some members may invest everything into a single target date fund, whereas other members may choose to allocate their investments across several funds.

Target Date Funds

OPERS offers 10 target date funds. They are a one-stop investment option for your long-term retirement planning.


OPERS Core Funds

OPERS offers six funds ranging from lower-risk, income-oriented options to higher-risk, growth-oriented options. Each fund invests in a different asset class.


Self-Directed Brokerage Account

Members in the Member-Directed Plan with an established account have the option to choose a mutual fund-only Self-Directed Brokerage Account, through Charles Schwab's Personal Choice Retirement Account®. This account provides members with the ability to choose mutual funds outside of the core OPERS investment options.

In order to participate in the OPERS Self-Directed Brokerage Account, the following requirements must be met:

Enroll in the OPERS Self-Directed Brokerage Account

If your account meets the criteria above, you're eligible to enroll in the Charles Schwab PCRA.

You'll need two codes to sign up (see sidebar).

Enroll in the Charles Schwab PCRA

More information on the self-directed brokerage account

Morningstar Profiles

OPERS is partnered with Morningstar, Inc. a leading provider of independent investment research, to deliver quarterly investment profiles for each of the OPERS Investment Options.

Choosing Your Investments

The following steps will help you gain a basic understanding of investing so you can choose the right investment options for you.

Step 1 - Do your research

Directing your OPERS individual account requires knowledge of the basics of investing.

Before choosing your investments, we encourage you to refer to the following documents.

Investment Documents
  1. Investment Options Disclosures

    The Investment Options Disclosures document provides an overview of each fund, including the fund's objective, strategy and asset class.

  2. Morningstar Fund Profiles

    The quarterly Morningstar Profiles (published by Morningstar Inc.) offer important facts about an investment on a single page, in a format familiar to many investors. They rank each fund's volatility, risk, return and overall performance.

  3. Returns and Expense Ratios

    OPERS releases investment summaries each month. These summaries list both the returns and expense ratios of each of the funds.

  4. Investment Policy

    The OPERS Investment Policy document defines key roles and responsibilities in the management and oversight of the defined contribution plans.

Step 2 - Develop your investment strategy

Balance risk and reward

All investments have potential risks and rewards.

Diversification

Diversification is a way of managing risk by selecting a variety of funds with different asset classes.

By spreading your money among different investments, you reduce the impact of any one investment and lower your risk.

Invest for the long-term

Time plays an important role in investing because it can reduce your risk. Over time, the highs and lows associated with any type of investment should balance out.

If you do not select an investment option, your OPERS contributions will be invested in the target date fund that is closest to the year in which you will turn 65.

For example: Your birth year was 1971, in 2036 you will be 65, so you would be placed in the OPERS Target Date 2035 Fund.


Reviewing Your Account

Quarterly Review

Check out your quarterly statement. Review the total returns for the OPERS Investment Options and make sure the information on your statement is correct (especially if you made any account transactions during the three-month period).

Your quarterly OPERS News contains updates and information pertaining to your plan.

Yearly Review

Review your asset allocation and consider rebalancing to maintain your ideal asset allocation mix. The OPERS Rebalancing Feature makes this easy to do.

Changes in the market

Various domestic and global events can increase the volatility of investments, which may make you uncomfortable with your current investment options.

Consult with a financial advisor and re-evaluate your investor profile if these issues are of concern to you.


Changing your investments

Making changes to your investments is easy and can be done through your online account.

Once you are logged in to your Online Account:

  1. Click View Your Member-Directed Plan Account
  2. Select Manage Investments under the "Account" menu
  3. You then need to do two things with your account if you currently have pre-mixed portfolios.
    • Click Change Elections to change where your future contributions are allocated
    • Then, choose Fund Transfer link, which will enable you to move money currently in the pre-mixed portfolios out of them and into a Target Date Fund(s) or stock index fund(s).

You may also make changes over the phone by calling the OPERS Help Line at 1-866-673-7748.

There are currently no limits on how often you can change your investment allocations.

Your account value in the Member-Directed Plan or the defined contribution portion of your Combined Plan is not a guaranteed amount. It is dependent on the performance of the investment options you select.