PROVIDENCE – Even with a $900 million loss in the first quarter, the state pension fund outperformed 95% of its public pension counterparts nationwide, according to new data from Investment Metrics shared by the R.I. Office of the General Treasurer.
The state’s portfolio outperformed the median public pension plan by 4.2%, saving $365 million more than if the state had performed on par with the median plan, the release stated. Rhode Island ranked No. 28 out of 546 public pension plans nationwide, according to Investment Metrics.
R.I. Treasurer Seth Magaziner credited the state’s strong pension standing to its crisis protection strategy adopted in 2016, which includes long-duration U.S. Treasury Department bonds and “trend-following” assets to protect against volatile markets.
While the S&P 500 declined 20% in the first quarter amid stock market plunges, the Rhode Island Crisis Protection allocation rose 15.1%, offsetting decline in other investments for an overall decrease of 9.6%. By comparison, the median public pension plan dropped 13.8% in the same time frame.
Nancy Lavin is a staff writer for PBN. Contact her at Lavin@pbn.com.
