US pension funds experienced their first overall quarterly loss on investments since April-June 2012 in the three months to the end of September 2014, according to data from the US Census Bureau.
The data from 100 of the biggest public pensions in the US shows that revenue from investments fell $43 billion in the third quarter of 2014, following gains of more than $200 billion in the first half of the year. The third-quarter declines were in part due to falls in the FTSE 100 and EuroStoxx 50 indices during the period.
Despite the losses, total assets across the 100 funds rose by $105 billion in the first nine months of 2014 to $3.31 trillion. Over five years, total assets in US public pension funds have risen 39%, from $2.37 billion in September 2009.
Pensions increased their exposure to corporate and government fixed income securities by $84 billion during the same period, and added $38 billion to US equity investments. Overseas securities exposure was reduced by $37 billion.
Related Content:Risk On: European Investors Return to Equities, Emerging Markets & The Year That Wasn’t