Virginia Retirement System, Richmond, returned 4.7% in the fiscal year ended June 30, reaching a new high of $68.1 billion in assets, officials reported Monday.
Chief Investment Officer Ronald D. Schmitz said the pension fund exceeded its custom benchmark return of 4.2% despite market fluctuations over global uncertainty. “We continued to take a more conservative approach with an eye toward protecting the fund,” Mr. Schmitz said in a statement.
The top-performing asset class was real assets at 11.8%, followed by private equity, 8.3%; public equity, 5.5%; strategic opportunities, 2.9%; fixed income, 1.9%; and credit strategies, 1.1%.
As of June 30, VRS' asset allocation was 35.2% global equity, 18.1% fixed income, 10.7% credit strategies, 9.2% real estate, 7.6% equity hedge funds, 7.4% private equity, 3.6% convertibles, 3.5% emerging markets debt, 2.1% other real assets, 1.4% cash and 1.2% strategic opportunities.
“The staff did an impressive job of navigating a changing global market while taking advantage of opportunities to add value but also minimize risk,” said Robert L. Greene, board chairman, in the statement.
