Pension fund earned 11% last year on market rebound

ACCORDING TO A WPRI.COM REPORT, R.I. General Treasurer Gina M. Raimondo said the state's pension fund for the 2012- 2013 fiscal year earned 11.1 percent.  / PBN PHOTO/NATALJA KENT
ACCORDING TO A WPRI.COM REPORT, R.I. General Treasurer Gina M. Raimondo said the state's pension fund for the 2012- 2013 fiscal year earned 11.1 percent. / PBN PHOTO/NATALJA KENT

PROVIDENCE – The pension fund for the state of Rhode Island earned 11.1 percent during the 2012 – 2013 fiscal year, a 9.7 percentage point improvement over the 1.4 percent rise during the 2011 – 2012 fiscal year, R.I. General Treasurer Gina M. Raimondo announced, and WPRI.com reported, Wednesday.
As of June 30, the state’s pension fund’s assets totaled $7.55 billion, a $309.3 million increase from a year earlier, which took into account investment returns, contributions to the fund and payouts to retirees. The figures were provided by the Bank of New York Mellon – the state’s custodial bank.
Although the 11.1 percent return, which the news source attributed to the rebound of the national market, was below the 11.3 percent return of the fund’s benchmark, Raimondo said she has reduced the pension fund’s overall risk.
“The pension fund continued to pay out far more than it takes in over the last year,” said WPRI.com
During fiscal 2013, retirees received $924 million in benefits, while active employees and taxpayers deposited $479 million into the fund. WPRI said the state’s investment strategy is to partly close the nearly $500 million gap with “robust market returns.”

No posts to display