A survey of 187 public pension plans across the U.S. and Canada suggests that funds are feeling more confident about their long-term sustainability and their “readiness to address future retirement issues.”
The survey, conducted by the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS) and Cobalt Community Research, was released Monday.
The main findings of the survey:
– Confidence continues to grow about readiness to address future retirement trends and issues. Respondents’ overall confidence rating measured 7.9 on a 10-point scale, up from 7.8 in 2013 and 7.4 in 2011.
– Funds experienced an increase in average funded level – 71.5 percent, up from 70.5 percent in 2013. Two factors contributed to the change: average one-year investment returns of 15 percent and lower amortization periods.
– Funds continue to experience healthy investment returns: 14.5 percent for one-year investments (compared to 8.8 percent in 2013); 10.3 percent for three-year investments (up from 10.0 percent last year); 9.8 percent for five-year investments (up from 2.7 percent last year); 7.8 percent for 10-year investments (up from 7.0 percent), and 8.1 percent for 20-year investments (virtually unchanged from last year’s 8.2 percent). Funds continue to work toward offsetting sharp losses from the Great Recession in 2008 and 2009 by strengthening investment discipline. Signs point to long-term improvement in public retirement systems’ funded status.
– Public funds continue to be the most cost effective mechanism for retirement saving. The total average cost of administering funds and paying investment managers was 61 basis points. According to the Investment Company Institute’s 2014 Investment Company Fact Book, the expenses of most equity funds average 74 basis points and hybrid funds average 80 basis points.
– Funds continue to tighten benefits, assumptions and governance practices. Examples include a continued trend toward increasing member contribution rates, lowering inflation assumptions, shortening amortization periods, holding actuarial assumed rates of return and lowering the number of retirees receiving health care benefits.
– Income used to fund public pension programs came from member contributions (8 percent); employer (government) contributions (19 percent) and investment returns (73 percent).
The full summary of the study, including comments by NCPERS’ Executive Director, can be found here.