PROVIDENCE – The Rhode Island state worker pension plan had a one-year rate of return in fiscal 2019 of 6.5%, according to a report issued Friday by state General Treasurer Seth Magaziner. He also reported that at the end of the fiscal year the plan held $8.5 billion in assets.
While the rate of return was lower than the state’s target figure of 7%, Magaziner said that the fund outperformed 78% of all pension plans with assets greater than $1 billion. The median return of such funds was 5.4% for the fiscal year.
The plan benchmark for the year was 6.6%. The report also noted that a 60%/40%, stock-bond mix returned 7% in that time.
Data was based on an analysis by InvMetrics on a report from New England Pension Consulting. The report measured 77 public pension portfolios in fiscal 2019.
Over a two-year span, the state earned a 7.3% return, which beat 69% of peer plans. The median return rate for all plans in that period was 6.9%. A 60/40 blend returned 6.6% in that time frame.
Over the most-recent five-year span, the state pension funds had a 5.6% rate of return, outperforming 43% of its peers, beating the benchmark return of 5.4% and the 60/40 aggregate return of 5.1%, while matching the median return among public pensions larger than $1 billion.
Over a 10-year span, Rhode Island exceeded the performance of 34% of 65 plans with an 8.8% return. The median return was 9% in that time span. A 60/40 blend in that time frame would have returned 7.9%, according to the report, which would exceed the returns of only 6% of the pension plans measured.