The Montana Board of Investments, the entity that manages investments for the state’s pension funds, released its annual return data yesterday. As a whole, the Board pulled in a return of just over 17 percent for fiscal year 2013-14. From the Missoulian:
State investments showed a return of 17.17 percent on all pension investments in the fiscal year that ended June 30.
The state Board of Investments’ return for the year was approaching the historic high return for the board, which was 21.8 percent in 2011. The return last year was 13 percent.
These percentages are net returns, calculated after all investment expenses are paid.
Montana has been in the top 25 percent of its peers for the past three years.
Since the Board of Investments’ inception in 1972, its overall earnings are 7.93 percent, exceeding the 7.75 percent needed to fund the pension systems.
The investments have bounced back since state pension funds lost a fourth of their money during the national recession in 2008 and 2009.
“The taxpayers of Montana re the winners with today’s announcement,” Gov. Steve Bullock said. “At a time when other states are forced to raise taxes to fix their pension problems, Montana has fixed our public pensions without increasing taxes.”
Bullock said the state is continuing to improve its financial picture through prudent investments of cash holdings and investments.
Over the same period, the S&P 500 returned approximately 21 percent.
Photo: “Winnett MT Rims South of Town” by J.B. Chandler – Own work. Licensed under Creative Commons