Treasurer Erick Russell released the following statement on Monday in response to a new report from Pensions and Investments showing Connecticut’s pension funds had the highest outperformance of investment benchmarks among the 68 public pension funds tracked by the publication in Fiscal Year 2023.
“We have high expectations that our pension funds should be among the best performing in the nation. While this report shows our capacity to do just that, we are long-term investors and don’t measure success one individual year at a time. The array of reforms to our investment strategy — including how we allocate assets, choose partners, and retain and recruit in-house talent — are already showing results and have us well-positioned to capitalize on this momentum in the coming years.
“Maximizing investment returns not only protects the retirement security of retired state workers and teachers, but it is also part of Connecticut’s larger strategy to strengthen state finances. Continued success will free up resources that can be used to support services for taxpayers, lower costs, and make critical long-term investments in our communities. In tandem with the budgetary reforms in recent years that have resulted in nearly $8 billion in additional contributions to the pension funds, we are also combatting the punishing legacy of debt that has lingered as an anchor around Connecticut’s economy for generations.
“I’m incredibly proud of the team in my office, and our partners on the Investment Advisory Council, for their work. I look forward to continued success and working with stakeholders across state government to build on this progress.”
Most of the public funds tracked by Pensions and Investments did not meet their one-year benchmark returns in FY23. Of the 26 that did, Connecticut’s pension funds were the only to exceed its benchmark by over 2%. The benchmark represents the actual return of the target long-term asset allocation across various investment types in the pension funds.
At a September meeting of the Investment Advisory Council, Treasurer Russell announced that Connecticut’s pension funds had achieved returns of 8.5% in FY23. The benchmark was 5.9%.
