Rhode Island Pension Fund Returns 8%

State pension outpaces benchmark over the past 10 years.

The $8.3 billion Employees Retirement System of Rhode Island returned 8.03% for the fiscal year ending June 30, ahead of its 7.0% annual target, and its benchmark, which returned 7.5% during the same period.

The fund also outperformed a traditional 60% stock/40% bonds portfolio, which would have earned just 6.25%. The fund also reported three-, five-, and 10-year annualized returns of 6.3%, 7.2%, and 5.8%, respectively, compared to its benchmark’s three-, five-, and 10-year annualized returns of 6.0%, 7.0%, and 5.6%, respectively.

“We have taken our investment strategy back to basics for our members,” General Treasurer Seth Magaziner said in a release, referring to his “Back to Basics” asset allocation plan, which was enacted in 2016. Under the plan, a majority of the pension fund is invested in strategies designed to produce strong returns over time. The growth and income strategies consist mainly of low-fee index funds, while the rest of the portfolio invests in assets designed to protect the pension system against market risks such as inflation and volatility.

Part of the strategy included exiting most hedge funds in favor of more traditional strategies for growth and stability. Over the past 12 months, Magaziner said investments in private equity returned 17.9% and global index funds earned 11.5%, net of fees and expenses.

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As of May 31, the fund’s asset allocation was 54.8% in “growth,” 37.5% in “stability,” and 7.4% in “income.”

The “growth” assets include US equity, international developed equity, private equity, emerging market equity, non-core real estate, and opportunistic private credit.  The “stability” assets include investment-grade fixed income, absolute return, core real estate, long-duration Treasuries, systematic trend following, cash, Treasury inflation protected securities (TIPS), private infrastructure, and natural resources.  And the “income” assets include liquid credit, high-yield infrastructure, private credit, and real estate investment trusts.  

All performance figures are net of fees and expenses.

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CIO’s Ninth Annual Industry Innovation Awards: Fewer than 10 Days to Nominate!

Nominations for innovative and talented asset owners and managers/servicers open until August 4.

It’s time again to nominate and celebrate the industry’s most innovative asset owners and managers/servicers. CIO’s ninth annual Industry Innovation Awards will take place December 13 at the New York Public Library, celebrating the most innovative and talented players of institutional investing.

Please nominate asset owners and managers/servicers for this year’s awards via our digital survey or by filling out our 2018 CIO nominations form and emailing your nominations to CIOeditors@strategic-i.comNominations will close August 4, and all finalists will be announced in early September. 

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This year, the CIO editorial team will consult an advisory board of former and current chief investment officers, including Raphael Arndt, CIO of Australia’s Future Fund; Jagdeep Singh Bachher, CIO, vice president of Investments, University of California; Matt Clark, CIO, South Dakota Investment Council; Scott Evans, CIO of the New York City Pension Funds; David Holmgren, CIO of Hartford HealthCare; Tom Joy, CIO, Church of England; Kim Lew, CIO, Carnegie Corporation of New York; Richard Nuzum, president of Mercer’s global wealth business (2017 Consultant of the Year); and Bob Watson, CIO of FCA US. Some categories, such as investment outsourcing, transition management, and corporate investment strategies, will be judged largely on data collected via the CIO survey system.

The lifetime achievement award, which Ashbel C. “Ash” Williams, executive director and CIO of the Florida State Board of Administration (SBA), won last year, will be presented at the dinner. An overall winner from the asset owner categories will also be chosen and awarded CIO of the Year (presented last year to Evans).

Our Next Generation Award is chosen the evening of the awards dinner, following a panel at the CIO Influential Investors’ Forum.

This year’s asset owner categories include (2017 winners in parentheses): 

Foundation (Carnegie Foundation, Kim Lew)

Endowment (Church Commissioners for England, Tom Joy)

Corporate Defined Benefit Pension Plan Below $5 Billion (Computer Sciences – CSRA Inc., Brian Reed)

Corporate Defined Benefit Pension Plan Above $5 Billion (ABB,Elisabeth Bourqui)

Public Defined Benefit Plan Below $15 Billion (South Dakota Investment Council, Matt Clark)

Public Defined Benefit Plan Between $15 Billion and $100 Billion (Hawaii Employees’ Retirement System, Vijoy Chattergy)

Public Defined Benefit Plan Above $100 Billion (NYC Retirement System, Scott Evans)

Sovereign Wealth Fund (Australian Future Fund, Raphael Arndt)

Healthcare Organization (Hartford HealthCare, David Holmgren)

Defined Contribution Plan (Fiat Chrysler FCA US,Bob Watson)

ESG(University of California Regents, Jagdeep Singh Bachher)

Next Generation (W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Carlos Rangel)
Consulting (Mercer,Rich Nuzum)

*New 2018 Category: Collaboration

Asset management categories include (2017 winners in parentheses; italics indicate altered category): 

Fixed Income (Nuveen Asset Management)

Equities (including alternative equity beta) (BlackRock)

Multi-Asset (including risk-balanced strategies) (Neuberger Berman)

Private Equity (Apollo Global Management)

Hedge Funds (Citadel)

Real Assets (AEW Global)

Defined Contribution Strategies (Prudential)

Investment Outsourcing (Russell Investments)

Corporate Investment Strategies (includes the overall criteria to helpcorporate CIOs achieve their goals including positioning for growth, innovation in risk management, and hedging overall portfolios.) 

(Legal & General Investment Management America)

Transition Management (BlackRock)

Data & Technology (FactSet)

ESG Investing (Generation Investment Management)

*New 2018 Category: Emerging Markets

*New 2018 Category: Corporate LDI Strategies

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