The Rhode Island Pension Fund reached an all-time high at the end of 2020, closing out December at $9.495 billion in assets and gaining more than $302 million in the month alone. The Pension Fund has continued to steadily grow despite COVID-19 market volatility under Treasurer Magaziner's Back to Basics investment strategy, which prioritizes growth and stability over the long term.
"My number one priority is to support economic opportunity and protect the state's finances, including the Pension Fund," said Rhode Island General Treasurer Seth Magaziner. "Even in a time of extreme market volatility, my Back to Basics investment strategy has protected the Pension Fund for those families whose livelihoods depend upon it and has spurred growth, resulting in the fund closing out the year at an all-time high."
Under Treasurer Magaziner's Back to Basics strategy, the Rhode Island Pension Fund has consistently outperformed its peers; it performed better than 87% of similar funds in the 2020 fiscal year. And with 2020 at a close, the Pension Fund has now significantly outperformed its own plan benchmark, earning 11.87% on the year compared to the plan benchmark return of 11.49%.
Among the plan's strongest performing underlying investments for the year were US stock market index funds which returned 20.83% and the Crisis Protection Strategy introduced to the plan by Treasurer Magaziner, which returned 15.54%.
Additional information about the fund, including the 'Back to Basics' investment strategy, performance, and detailed information about its managers are published online as part of Treasurer Magaziner's "Transparent Treasury" initiative at http://investments.treasury.ri.gov.
Note: All performance is reported on a "net of fees" basis.
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Contact: Rosie Hilmer, Communications Director (401) 439-2199 | rosie.hilmer@treasury.ri.gov