Connecticut”™s largest pension funds, the State Employees”™ Retirement Fund (SERF) and the Teachers”™ Retirement Fund (TRF), recorded investment returns, net of expenses, of 16.51 percent and 16.33 percent for 2017, according to data released by State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier.
The funds, which represent 91 percent of the state”™s pension and trust fund portfolio, outperformed their respective benchmarks by 74 and 63 basis points, respectively. Nappier said the state”™s third largest fund, the Connecticut Municipal Employees”™ Retirement Fund (CMERF), earned 14.53 percent, net of expenses, exceeding its benchmark by 50 basis points.
The Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Fund, comprised of six pension plans and nine trust funds in all, saw an increase in value of $4.2 billion, setting a year-end record of $34.4 billion.
“Our pension funds profited handsomely from the market”™s performance,” Nappier said. “The soundness of our strategic, diversified approach to portfolio design has enabled us to achieve returns that more than doubled the actuarially assumed rates of return for SERF and TRF, and that was 80 percent higher than the assumed return for CMERF.”
