U.S. public pensions reported median gains of 16.1 percent last year, the fourth time in five years that the funds earned double-digit returns, according to Wilshire Associates Inc.
Smaller public pensions, which invest a greater share of their assets in U.S. stocks, beat plans with assets of more than $5 billion, the Santa Monica, California-based consulting firm said today in a report. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (SPX) of U.S. stocks rose 30 percent in 2013, ending the year at an all-time high for the first time since 1999.
“U.S. equities trumped all other asset classes,” said Bob Waid, a managing director at Wilshirehttp.
