For more Information Contact
Steve Esack
Press Secretary
Public School Employees' Retirement System
Phone: 717-720-4770
e-mail: stesack@pa.gov
HARRISBURG – The Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System (PSERS) Board of Trustees today unanimously voted to name Joseph J. Indelicato Jr. as a Special Advisor to the Board. After Pennsylvania licensing requirements are completed, Mr. Indelicato will assume the position of Chief Counsel at PSERS.
“I look forward to working with PSERS Board and staff,” Indelicato said. “PSERS is one of the oldest pension funds in the country, providing retirement benefits to over 500,000 public school employees and retirees. I am honored to become part of PSERS hardworking team and provide excellent service to PSERS members and retirees.”
Mr. Indelicato most recently served as General Counsel of the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System (NYSTRS). He served in that capacity since January 2013. Mr. Indelicato first joined NYSTRS in 2001 as an Assistant General Counsel.
At NYSTRS, Mr. Indelicato oversaw the legal department, which is responsible for protecting the System’s legal rights, advising the System on litigation, regulatory and compliance matters, and interpreting the statutes that govern the System. In this role, Mr. Indelicato also advised staff on corporate governance matters, including stock proxy voting for the System’s domestic and international equity portfolios.
Mr. Indelicato is a cum laude graduate of Boston College where he received his bachelor’s degree and Syracuse University College of Law where he received his law degree.
PSERS had been without a permanent chief counsel since October 2021, due to a staff retirement. The board appointed two interim attorneys to lead the agency’s internal legal department and coordinate with outside counsel on various legal matters while the search for a new chief counsel was underway.
While Mr. Indelicato will be coming on board, PSERS longest tenured trustee, Melva S. Vogler, will be departing.
Ms. Vogler announced today that she will not seek re-election to another term 3-year term. Ms. Vogler was first elected to the PSERS Board as an active certified member in 1994, while she was a teacher in the Wallenpaupack Area School District. Upon her retirement in 2013, Ms. Vogler won election as the Board’s retired representative, and then won a second term in 2019. Her term ends in December.
“Mel Vogler is one of the wisest folks I’ve ever been around,” said Trustee Richard Vague, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities. “It is a shame we are losing you. Thank you for your extraordinary service.”
In other Agency business, the Board approved three investments.
• $350 million in a new investment to Caspian Keystone Focused Fund Ltd., a public fixed income commitment, and a transfer of two other existing Caspian accounts, totaling up to $275 million, to the new fund;
• €95 million to TDR Capital V L.P., a private equity commitment;
• $100 million to EQT Exeter Industrial Value Fund VI, L.P., a private real estate commitment.
Finally, Executive Director Terri Sanchez announced PSERS received the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for the 2020-21 fiscal year Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. It is the 39th consecutive year PSERS earned the award.
“This award is the highest recognition for governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by PSERS staff and the Board,” Sanchez said.
About the Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System
PSERS, founded in 1917, began operations in 1919 to oversee a statewide defined benefit pension plan for public school employees. PSERS' role expanded upon the passage of Act 5 of 2017 to include oversight of two new benefit options consisting of defined benefit and defined contribution (DC) components and a stand-alone DC plan. As of March 31, 2022, PSERS had total net assets of $75.9 billion and a membership of about 248,000 active, 243,000 retired school employees and 26,000 vested inactive members.
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