The Rhode Island pension fund continued to outperform global markers in March, led by investments designed to add stability through challenging global equity markets. As global stock markets posted a 2.17 percent loss in March as markets remained volatile for the second consecutive month, the Pension Fund fared better, posting a -0.68 percent return during that same period.
Key components of the fund's Back to Basics investment strategy led the Fund to outperform the market in March, including its Volatility Protection portion of the portfolio which held steady posting a 0.09 percent gain, and the Inflation Protection portion of the portfolio which gained 0.84 percent.
In the 12-month period ending March 30, 2018, the fund returned 9.66 percent, ahead of both its internal benchmark which returned 9.46 percent and a traditional 60% stock/40% bonds portfolio which would have returned 9.29 percent over that same 12-month period.
Over the past 5-years, Rhode Island's fund returned an average of 6.91 percent annually, compared to 6.82 percent from the plan's benchmark and 6.33 percent from a 60/40 portfolio.
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Contact:
Evan England, Director of Communications (401) 222-2240 | (401) 439-2199 (mobile) evan.england@treasury.ri.gov