State and local pension funds generated an average 7.5% return during their most recent fiscal year, based on data and estimates from Equable Institute. That's higher than the average assumed 6.9% return. This year's return was a reversal from 2022's 5.9% loss.
Actual state and local pension returns ranged from -4.1% to 13.3%.
Among pension plans that reported actual returns, 96 topped their benchmark and 72 fell short.
Most pension plans (109 out of 168) had returns within 2 percentage points of their benchmark. Two plans missed their benchmark return by more than 10 percentage points. At the other end of the spectrum, one plan outperformed its benchmark by about 6.5 percentage points.
