Equable Institute Analysis: U.S. Public Pension Funds Show Moderate Improvement in Q3

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Oct 11, 2023, 08:05 ET

2023 funded ratio rises to 78.8%; unfunded liabilities to decline to $1.39 trillion

NEW YORK, Oct. 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Equable Institute released a mid-year update to its State of Pensions 2023 report. The analysis finds the aggregate funded ratio for U.S. state and local retirement systems are on track to improve from 75.0% in 2022 to 78.8% in 2023, based on data available through September 30^th, 2023. Equable Institute estimates that unfunded liabilities will total $1.39 trillion for the 2023 fiscal year, compared to $1.59 trillion at the end of 2022.

U.S. state and local pension funds are on track to improve from 75.0% funded in 2022 to 78.8% funded in 2023.

As more data becomes available about fiscal year 2023, it's clear that the investment performance of U.S. public pension funds is mixed. Roughly half of the pension funds that end their fiscal year in June have preliminarily reported they exceeded their investment assumptions. The other half have missed their investment targets for 2023. This variance has translated into an average investment return of 5.6% for public plans in 2023, as of September 30^th — which is below the nationwide average 6.9% assumed rate of return.

"It's nice to see pension fund investments rebound from losses in 2022," said Equable Institute executive director Anthony Randazzo. "And its particularly noteworthy as markets were still trending down at the start of the 2023 fiscal year, suggesting that pension funds used the second half of their fiscal year to make a strong recovery. However, it is still concerning that the average 2023 actual return is below the assumed rate of return for 2023. It is likely that persistent unfunded liabilities will remain a threat in the coming years unless we see significant improvements in returns or increases in contributions."

Equable Institute notes that pension funds' ability to build on the positive momentum of the last half-decade will hinge on how they manage increasing levels of "valuation risk", chronic unfunded liabilities, and continued market volatility.

To read the State of Pensions 2023 October Update, access interactive data visualizations, and download raw data, visit: http://www.equable.org/stateofpensions2023.

About Equable Institute
Equable is a bipartisan non-profit that works with public retirement system stakeholders to solve complex pension funding challenges with data-driven solutions. We exist to support public sector workers in understanding how their retirement systems can be improved, and to help state and local governments find ways to both fix threats to municipal finance stability and ensure the retirement security of all public servants.

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SOURCE Equable Institute