Excerpt:
In December, PSERS consulting actuary Buck reported that the system’s investments had netted a 6.38 percent average annual rate of return over the nine previous fiscal years between 2011 and 2020. That meant employees were spared a contribution rate increase by slimmest of margins. The investment benchmark was a 6.36 percent rate of return.
The risk mandate, of course, was a response to the system’s chronic underfunding. According to the most recent estimates, which themselves are fungible, the system reported an unfunded pension liability of at least $44 billion. That means it has just over 59 percent of the money necessary to meet current pension obligations.
On Friday night, the system’s board of trustees announced an audit, including the possible hiring of an outside firm to investigate, after it was “made aware of an error regarding the reporting of investment performance numbers.”
Author(s): Wallace McKelvey
Publication Date: 13 March 2021
Publication Site: PennLive