Illinois' largest public pension system saw greater than expected returns, according to an early analysis of the last fiscal year's investments.
The Teachers Retirement System saw a 13.2% rate of return -- more than half a percentage point higher than the benchmark it had set, and well over last year's returns, which were less than one-percent. TRS spokesman Dave Urbanek, who says it's an important number: “It was a very good year despite the fact that the economy and the investment markets were very volatile.”
But Urbanek says more telling for Illinois' suburban and public school teachers, whose pensions are managed by TRS, is the long-term rate of return. He says that number was also better than expected -- 9% instead of 8. The performance of Illinois' pensions systems matters even to those who'll never collect -- the state has the nation's largest unfunded pension liability, about $100 billion. Urbanek says TRS's success this year does change things for the better ... but only slightly. Legislators continue to debate how to reduce the state's costs.