Dallas Employees' Retirement Fund returned 14.2% for the year ended Dec. 31, confirmed Cheryl Alston, executive director and chief investment officer.
The $3 billion pension fund reported three-year annualized returns as of Dec. 31 of 10.1%, outpacing the 8.25% assumed rate of return.
For the year, international equity was the best-performing asset class, returning 19.5%. That was followed by domestic equity, 15.45%; high yield and real assets, 13.8% each; REITs and private real estate combined, 12.56%; global fixed income, 6.2%. Private equity returned 5.49% as of Sept. 30.
Global equity returned 3.87% for the three months ended Dec. 31. The pension fund had carved out a 5% allocation to global equity at the beginning of the fourth quarter; domestic equity and international equity were each reduced 2.5 percentage points to 22.5% each, Ms. Alston said in a telephone interview. Aberdeen Asset Management and Wellington Management were hired to manage the global equity allocation.
The remaining asset allocations are 15% each fixed income and high yield, and 5% each REITs, real estate, private equity and real assets.
Separately, the board approved a 10% allocation to emerging managers in December, Ms. Alston said. The pension fund is working with its investment consultant, Wilshire Associates, to develop a comprehensive list of potential managers. Searches could start by the end of the first quarter and the pension fund will likely look at a “couple asset classes at a time,” Ms. Alston said.
