Assets of the South Carolina Retirement Systems, Columbia, rose 2.4% in the quarter ended Sept. 30 to $28.6 billion thanks to an investment return of 3.5%.
The quarterly return topped the 3.3% return of the systems’ policy benchmark and resulted in a net $970 million of investment gains after $305 million of net benefit payments were factored in.
Over longer time periods ended Sept. 30, the systems’ returns were one year, 7.4% (benchmark, 8.6%); three years, 5% (5.04%); five years, 7.6% (7.1%); and 10 years, 4.4% (3.9%), showed a performance report from Thursday’s meeting of the South Carolina Retirement System Investment Commission, which oversees the investment of the state’s pension funds. Multiyear returns are annualized.
The best-performing investment strategies for the year ended Sept. 30 were emerging markets, 18.8% (benchmark, 16.6%); private real estate, 11.8% (12.6%); and global equity, 10.3% (12.2%).
Private equity was the worst-performing strategy over one year with a return of 1.6% (benchmark, 2.6%), followed by private debt, 3% (2.4%); and U.S. core fixed income, 4.96% (5.2%).
In other news from the RSIC meeting, Derek Connor was introduced to commissioners as the pension fund’s new private markets officer by Geoffrey Berg, chief investment officer, according to a webcast. Mr. Connor joined the Columbia-based commission on Oct. 24, replaced Julia Lee, who left in August, said Danny Varat, an RSIC spokesman, in an e-mail. Mr. Connor focuses on the systems’ $2.69 billion private equity portfolio.
Mr. Connor was private equity investment officer at the $299.5 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System, Sacramento. His replacement there could not be learned.
