Pennsylvania State Employees returns 11.1% in 2020
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Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System, Harrisburg, posted a net return of 11.1% for the year ended Dec. 31, the $34.5 billion pension fund announced.
For the year ended Dec. 31, 2019, the pension fund had returned a net 18.8%.
PennSERS' portfolio reached $25.1 billion in late March amid the coronavirus pandemic, its lowest point during the year. Shortly thereafter, the board temporarily expanded the chief investment officer's authority to execute certain investment actions on the board's behalf for the rest of the year, which allowed the CIO to manage cash and adjust public market holdings, as needed.
Seth A. Kelly, CIO of PennSERS, said in a news release announcing the pension fund's annual return that "the past year brought an array of unprecedented challenges, mostly resulting from the COVID pandemic," before adding: "Initially, the financial markets experienced a great deal of volatility, but managed to recover."