Bernie Gallagher

Bernie Gallagher has specialized expertise in state retirement plan design, administration, funding, and governance.  He leads a consultancy that advises national, state, and local retirement systems and their stakeholders.  Previously, as a Senior Policy Analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, he advised a national network of 40+ independent state-level policy institutions on state pension and fiscal policy issues.

Earlier in his career, Bernie served as Senior Budget & Policy Analyst for Pennsylvania’s House Appropriations Committee (D).  For his legislative caucus, he was appointed as a trustee designee for Pennsylvania’s two largest public retirement systems: the State Employees’ Retirement System (2013-2019) and the Public School Employees’ Retirement System (2011-2019).  In these roles, he acquired deep applied experience with board governance best practices, institutional investing at scale, and fiduciary duty.  As a designee, Bernie actively collaborated with board members, other designees, senior management, consultants, and key stakeholders.  In addition, Bernie was appointed to the five-member Act 5 Public Pension Management & Asset Investment Review Commission (2017-2019) to study, evaluate, and provide recommendations to improve investment and governance strategies utilized by these systems.

His earlier experience includes serving as a nonpartisan budget analyst for the Joint Budget Committee of the Colorado General Assembly and analytical positions in the private sector.  He holds a BS in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from The Pennsylvania State University, MS in Management from Regis University, and has received advanced pension governance training from leading global institutions.