Pension Fund earns $323 million in January, Outperforming Investment Benchmarks

February 28, 2019: Rhode Island's pension fund earned $323 million from investments in the month of January, a 4.14% return that finished ahead of the fund's investment benchmark which returned 3.60%. The positive performance was driven by the investments in the global stock market - mostly low fee index funds designed to provide long-term growth.
 
"Public servants who spend their careers deserve to know that their pensions will be there for them in retirement and taxpayers deserve to have their public pension systems managed responsibly," said General Treasurer Seth Magaziner. "Our investment strategy is designed to provide long-term growth over time and stability when markets are challenging.”
 
In the 3-year period ending January 31, 2019, the fund also outperformed benchmarks; earning an annualized return of 8.67% versus the plan benchmark return of 8.52%, and a traditional 60 percent stock/40 percent bonds portfolio which would have earned 7.81%.
 
Detailed information about the fund, including the Back to Basics investment strategy, performance, and detailed information about its managers are published online as part of Treasurer Magaziner's "Transparent Treasury" initiative at investments.treasury.ri.gov.

Note: Performance information is presented net of fees.