Phoenix Employees Retirement System lost 0.79% on investments in the fourth quarter, said Greg Fitchet, investment manager. The fund ended the quarter at $1.94 billion, up 7.85% for the year. Quarterly returns lagged the custom benchmark by 22 basis points, while annual returns beat the benchmark by 80 basis points.
Mr. Fitchet said he was pleased with the returns, especially given the turbulent stock market and that the system had hired six new managers since April 1 as part of a push to diversify the fund. New to the lineup are large-cap value, small-cap value, small-cap international and real estate managers and a GTAA manager using a real return strategy.