SPRINGFIELD, IL – Teachers’ Retirement System investments generated a positive 4.6 percent rate of return, gross of fees, during fiscal year 2015 – a return that matched the System’s custom investment benchmark for FY 2015.

TRS ended FY 2015 on June 30 with $46 billion in assets, which places the System among the top 23 largest public pension funds in the United States. Net of fees, the TRS return for FY 2015 was 4.0 percent.

The 30-year investment return for TRS is 9.1 percent, net of fees, which exceeds the System’s long-term investment goal of 7.5 percent.

SPRINGFIELD, IL -- All Teachers’ Retirement System pensions and benefits will be paid in November on time and for the foreseeable future, despite an announcement today that cash flow constraints will delay the payment of state government’s November contribution to TRS.

“All TRS pensions and benefits are funded exclusively from the TRS trust fund and not from the state budget,” said TRS Executive Director Dick Ingram. “TRS currently has $46 billion in the trust fund to pay all pensions and benefits and monthly benefit payments total approximately $460 million.”

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SPRINGFIELD, IL – While the funded status of Teachers’ Retirement System improved slightly during fiscal year 2015 to 42 percent – up from 40.6 percent a year earlier – TRS still faces serious long-term financial problems caused by a long-standing unfunded liability.

The funded ratio is calculated according to state law, which requires TRS to average, or “smooth,” its investment gains and losses over a rolling five-year period; a common actuarial practice.

SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Teachers’ Retirement System Board of Trustees gave final approval to a state government contribution of $3.986 billion for fiscal year 2017, a 6.5 percent increase over the current budget year’s state contribution.

The $3.9 billion contribution for FY 2017 is based on calculations dictated in state law and falls well below the amount of money actuaries estimate state government should be paying TRS based on standard actuarial practices.

SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Teachers’ Retirement System Board of Trustees has approved the “graduation” of Channing Capital Management, of Chicago, from the System’s Emerging Manager Program to assume a role in managing a greater portion of the TRS Domestic Equity investment portfolio.

SPRINGFIELD, IL – Decades of state government underfunding and weakening investment returns led the Teachers’ Retirement System Board of Trustees to give preliminary approval to a state government contribution for fiscal year 2018 of $4.56 billion – a 14.5 percent increase over the state contribution for the current fiscal year.

SPRINGFIELD, IL – Teachers’ Retirement System surpassed its fiscal year 2016 goals for integrating women and minority-owned money managers and brokers into its investment program with more than 17.6 percent of the total portfolio managed by WMBE companies.

TRS investment staff reported to the TRS Board of Trustees that at the end of the fiscal year on June 30, the 34 women and minority owned business enterprises managing System assets administered $7.86 billion. The WMBE goal for FY 2016 was 16 percent of total assets. The FY 2016 total surpassed the goal by $721 million.

SPRINGFIELD, IL – After months of research and discussion, Teachers’ Retirement System has endorsed a new reporting template that standardizes the way private equity fund managers detail the fees they charge TRS and other public pension systems.

SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Teachers’ Retirement System Board of Trustees today reduced its long-range assumed rate of investment return to 7 percent from 7.5 percent, a move that reflects changes in the world economy which have dampened investment results.

This is the third time in the last four years that TRS has reduced its assumed rate of return in order to keep the System in line with economic reality. In 2012 TRS lowered its assumed rate from 8.5 percent to 8 percent, and then lowered the rate to 7.5 percent in 2014.