Studies on the Retirement Systems of Alabama, a government agency that uses tax money to fund investment in the state of Alabama, has shown it to have significant beneficial impact over the past twenty years.

Keivan Deravi of Auburn University of Montgomery and Samuel Addy of the University of Alabama authored the new studies, which were commissioned by the organization. They were updates of studies they had done previously. Deravi’s study focused on the economic impact of the RSA’s investments since 1990, while Addy’s focused on the economic impact of the RSA itself since 2009.

“Investment in the state is a very good investment,” Addy said. “It’s been worth it.”

The most famous of the RSA’s investments is the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail, the series of golf courses that have brought tourists and revenue to Alabama in droves since David Bronner, CEO of the RSA, began developing the project in the late 1980s.

The organization boosts the Alabama economy in other ways, as well.

“They own a lot of office buildings, hotels and resorts,” Ahmad Ijaz, director of economic forecasting at UA, said. “People come in and make use of these places, so indirectly, the RSA helps the state generate additional tax revenue.”

Addy added, however, that it is misleading to look at investments alone. The primary purpose of the RSA is to serve as a pension fund for Alabama state employees. Bob Brooks, a UA professor of economics, explained the benefits of the agency.

“The RSA is not a private organization. It is an entity of the state of Alabama,” Brooks said. “This is an important insight that many miss.”

Brooks explained that the RSA operates a defined benefit plan, which he defined as being a contract with the state in which money is taken from the checks of the workers and placed in the RSA, to be paid out upon retirement, which government workers have the option to do after 25 years.

“So long as the state of Alabama is solvent, employees should receive their benefits,” Brooks said.

The RSA is beneficial to the state as a whole, too, in that it consciously searches for investment opportunities within Alabama, keeping money within the state. Many private pension funds, Brooks explained, do not do this.

“If they have good opportunities, then they take them,” Addy said.

Over the past few years, the country as a whole has been in dire straits financially, and Alabama has seen the effects of the crashes, pitfalls and bankruptcies of the nation. The RSA, however, has done well for itself, comparatively.

“They [are doing] relatively well within the peer group,” Addy said.

Addy said this speaks to the contributions that the Retirement Systems of Alabama has made toward the wellbeing of the state and forecasts a bright future, as well.

“The benefits will continue to stem from the current investments and additional future investments,” Ijaz said.