Amy Fecher

Amy Fecher is the Executive Director of the Arkansas Public Employees‘ Retirement System (APERS), where she serves as chief executive of three statewide defined benefit retirement systems covering more than 100,000 active members, retirees, and beneficiaries. She holds fiduciary responsibility for a $14 billion trust fund that is 86% funded.

Since assuming the role in 2022, Fecher has driven significant organizational and investment advancements at APERS. She repositioned the system’s asset allocation strategy to include private equity, generating a 27% return in year one, and has grown trust assets by more than $4 billion. She launched the agency’s first enterprise strategic plan, initiated a full modernization of the pension administration system, and strengthened the fiduciary governance framework while leading strategic initiatives to enhance member service and organizational performance. She serves as the system’s primary liaison to the Arkansas General Assembly, advising on pension policy, funding discipline, and long-term sustainability.

Prior to joining APERS, Fecher served as Cabinet Secretary in the Arkansas Department of Transformation and Shared Services, where she led a department responsible for enterprise services including employee and retiree health insurance, procurement, personnel, and technology infrastructure.

Earlier in her career, Fecher served as Chief Transformation Officer in the Office of Governor Asa Hutchinson, where she architected the largest state government reorganization in Arkansas history consolidating 42 cabinet-level agencies into 15 departments through passage of the landmark Transformation and Efficiencies Act.

With more than two decades of leadership experience across the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, Ms. Fecher is known for driving organizational improvement and strengthening governance in complex public institutions.  She is an active member of the National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA) where she serves as a Regional Vice President and the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS) and is a committed advocate for defined benefit retirement systems as a cornerstone of public sector retirement security.

Fecher has been recognized as one of the National Top 50 Women in Technology by State Scoop, a Most Influential Leader in Public Service by Arkansas Business, and Woman of the Year in Public Service by the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas. She holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Central Arkansas and completed executive education at Harvard Kennedy School.