Louisiana Teachers’ Retirement System, Baton Rouge, posted a net return of 7.2% for the fiscal year ended June 30.
The $26.5 billion pension fund’s return fell well short of its policy benchmark return of 11.8% for the period, according to an investment report on its website.
For the three, five and 10 years ended June 30, the pension fund returned an annualized net 1.9%, 7.7% and 7.5%, respectively, compared with the respective benchmarks of 3.7%, 8% and 7.5%.
The pension fund had returned a gross 7.3% for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023.
For the most recent fiscal year, the pension fund’s return was the third-lowest among the 44 public pension plans whose returns have been tracked by Pensions & Investments as of Sept. 3. The median return for the universe is 9.8%.
The pension fund’s top-performing asset class for the fiscal year ended June 30 was domestic equities, reflecting a strong market for the period. The Russell 3000 index returned 23.1% for the period.
For the year ended June 30, domestic equities returned a net 17% (well below that 23.1% benchmark), followed by emerging markets equities, which returned a net 15.2% (above the 12.6% benchmark); international developed markets equities, 11.1% (11.5%); global real estate investment trusts, 5.4% (4.5%); domestic fixed income, 4.2% (2.6%); global fixed income, 2.7% (0.9%); and alternative assets and real estate, 2.6% (9.2%).
As of June 30, the pension fund’s actual allocation was 48% alternative assets and real estate, 22% domestic equities, 8.2% international developed markets equities, 6.4% domestic fixed income, 4.1% multiasset credit, 3.8% each emerging markets equities and global fixed income, 2.3% cash and other investments and 1.4% global REITs.
