February 17, 2022: The state’s pension fund has gained $70.6 billion over the past decade, exceeding its targets by $12 billion after posting the fourth largest annual gain in its history in 2021, fund managers reported on Thursday. Pension Reserve Investment Management Executive Director Michael Trotsky has previously shared that the fund, which pays retirement benefits to state employees and teachers, grew by 20.1 percent after fees in 2021, for a gain of $17.4 billion, and closed the year at a record high $104.3 billion. Trotsky told the PRIM Board Thursday that its three-year, five-year and 10-year returns of 16.1 percent, 12.4 percent and 10.5 percent all beat the state’s established target return rate of 7 percent. “We have a saying around the halls of PRIM: to the extent PRIM is successful, we are the taxpayers’ friend – not to mention the retirees’ friend,” Trotsky said. Despite the gains, the pension fund won’t be fully funded until 2040, based on current projections. Gov. Charlie Baker’s fiscal year 2023 budget calls for a transfer of $3.744 billion to the pension fund to maintain the schedule, and to make a supplemental transfer of $250 million to a reserve fund that could either speed up full-funding or lower required deposits in future years. – Matt Murphy/SHNS
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