If it's your money in the fund,  and the managers miss,  do you have to send them more money to infill their losses,  to make the fund whole again?  And if I am putting the money into the fund (employer/taxpayer  paying the PERS contribution),  why do I get the losses and the employee gets the gains?  That is NOT the case in private capital investments and businesses.   Apples and oranges deal.  You can't take the gains and expect the contributor to make up all the losses.   I will make a segment of the population really disturbed and angry.  It's not an investment with risk and reward,  but a system of all reward and zero risk,  expected to be paid for by taxes on risk/reward money gains.  All that is forgiven is that you are not liable for taxes on losses.  Yet.  Oregon public employees are still trying to levy a gross revenue tax on companies with more than a set threshold of revenue,  even if the company lost money,  is bleeding money in a bad market,  trying to keep workers.