Florida Retirement System returns 10.5% for fiscal year, below benchmark

Florida Retirement System Pension Plan, Tallahassee, returned a net 10.5% for the fiscal year ended June 30.

The $198.2 billion pension fund's return fell short of its benchmark return of 11.1% for the period, according to a performance report on the website of the Florida State Board of Administration, which oversees the pension fund's investments.

While the return fell below the pension fund’s benchmark, it exceeded the median return of 9.8% among the 55 U.S. public pension funds whose fiscal-year 2024 returns have been tracked by Pensions & Investments as of Sept. 9.

For the three, five and 10 years ended June 30, the FRS Pension Plan returned an annualized net 3.7%, 8.2% and 7.4%, respectively, above their respective benchmarks of 3.6%, 7.7% and 6.7%.

The pension fund had returned a net 7.5% for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023.

For the most recent fiscal year, the pension fund’s top-performing asset class was global equities, which returned a net 18.6% (above the benchmark return of 18.4%); followed by its strategic investment asset class, which returned a net 8.1% (below its 9.1% benchmark); private equity, 6.8% (benchmark 20.5%); cash, 5.4% (5.5%); fixed income, 3.9% (3.1%); and real estate, -5.7% (-10.5%).

As of June 30, the pension fund’s actual allocation was 48.5% global equities, 20.4% fixed income, 9.5% real estate, 9.3% private equity, 6.3% strategic investments, 4.8% active credit, and 1.2% cash and cash equivalents.

The target allocation is 45% global equities, 21% fixed income, 12% real estate, 10% private equity, 7% active credit, 4% strategic investments, and 1% cash and cash equivalents.