The Wisconsin Department of Employee Trust Funds administers benefit programs for approximately 692,000 current and former public employees, retirees, and their beneficiaries of the Wisconsin Retirement System. Our mission is to develop and deliver quality benefits and services to our customers while safeguarding the integrity of the Trust.

WRS benefit programs include retirement, health, life, income continuation, long-term disability, along with an employee reimbursement accounts program, commuter benefits program, and a deferred compensation plan. ETF also administers retirement disability coverage and serves as the state’s designated coverage agent for Social Security for Wisconsin public employers.

ETF collects but does not invest WRS trust fund monies. Instead, WRS assets are managed by a separate state agency, the State of Wisconsin Investment Board. ETF is responsible for:

  • Collecting all monies due the trust funds.
  • Calculating and ensuring appropriate disbursement of all benefit payments from the trust funds.
  • Providing information to, and answering inquiries from, participating employees and employers.
  • Establishing the controls, systems, and procedures necessary to ensure the appropriate administration and security of the trust.

Wisconsin Retirement System

The WRS covers employees of the State of Wisconsin and local government employers who elect to participate. This includes the Universities of Wisconsin, local police and firefighters, and all publicly employed teachers. Participation by eligible employees is mandatory for retirement and optional for insurance and other benefit programs.

The 2023 Wisconsin Act 12 allows new employees of the City of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County to join the WRS. This is effective January 1, 2024, for the City of Milwaukee. Milwaukee County plans to join the WRS in 2025. Act 12 provided that if the city or county imposed a sales tax, they would have to close their pension systems and move new employees into the WRS.

While the WRS has existed since 1982, pension coverage for local government employees has been in place since 1891, when the legislature required Milwaukee to create a pension fund for retired and disabled police and firefighters.

The WRS is classified as a defined benefit plan by the Internal Revenue Service. In terms of assets under management, the WRS consistently ranks among the 10 largest public pension funds in the U.S. The WRS is often recognized as being one of the only fully funded state pension systems in the country, primarily due to its unique gain/loss-sharing benefit structure, funding discipline and investment management.

Governance

ETF is a non-cabinet Wisconsin agency with five different statutory boards that oversee the administration and management of the WRS. The ETF Board is both the overall governing body for the agency and the general policy-setting and trustee board for the entire WRS.

The Joint Survey Committee on Retirement Systems provides oversight of the WRS for the legislature and is responsible for the review of all proposed retirement legislation.