Pittsburgh Comprehensive Fund Returns 16 Percent For Year

Pittsburgh Skyline

Pittsburgh’s Comprehensive Municipal Trust Fund reports that it returned 16 percent on its investments from September 1, 2013 to August 31, 2014 (the fund’s fiscal year). Reported by TribLive:

The pension system earned 16 percent on its invested portfolio during the 12 months ending Aug. 31, Executive Director Paul Leger said.

“It’s a very good value,” Leger said. “It’s actually something I tell my friends about.”

Funds for police, firefighters and municipal employees totaled $670 million in August, about 58 percent of the money needed for $1.15 billion in pension obligations for current and future retirees. Invested funds totaled $648 million in December, about 64 percent of their obligations.

The system earned 17.5 percent on investments in 2013, 15.8 percent in 2012, 9.3 percent in 2011, 8.4 percent in 2010 and 11.2 percent in 2009, according to reports from Chicago-based Marquette Associates, the Comprehensive Trust Fund’s investment adviser.

Pennsylvania state law mandates that any local-level pension fund with over $1 billion in obligations is subject to a state takeover if funding levels fall below 50 percent. Pittsburgh’s fund nearly fell below that level in 2010, but it avoided the state takeover scenario by re-directing over $700 million worth of parking taxes into the fund.

 

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