Financial Insights

On Aug 6, 2026, the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College published a pension ranking report featuring updated data that includes 2025 for 75% of public pension funds, providing valuable insights into investment performance benchmarks.

The key investment performance benchmarks utilized by Basis Point for evaluating investment performance include the S&P 500, the US Aggregate Bond Index, and the All Country World Index (with US). For fiscal year 2025, the average 1 year rate of return (ROR) rose to 10.58%, an increase from 10.28% in 2024, as highlighted in the pension ranking report regarding public pension funds.

2025 1 Year ROR Results:

FYE 12-31-2025                                                FYE 6-30-2025

S&P 500 +17.88%                                            S&P 500 +15.16%        

Bonds     +  7.30%                                             Bonds +6.08%

ACWI      +22.64%                                            ACWI +16.17%

Generic US 60/40 Portfolio: +13.65%                Generic 40/40 Portfolio +11.53%

The key components that you control are your asset allocation and investment expenses. Although not all plans have reported for 2025, the average investment expense stands at 44 basis points, which is slightly lower than the 2024 expense of 48 basis points, as indicated in the latest pension ranking report. Our analysis of public pension funds demonstrates a weak negative correlation between investment expenses and the investment performance benchmarks achieved.

Our pension ranking report evaluates your fund's investment performance against market benchmarks, scoring it from 1 (Best) to 219 (Lowest). This ranking is derived from our proprietary formula, honed through years of research, and is based on the weighted performance of your fund over 1, 5, and 10 years in relation to market benchmarks specific to your fiscal month-end.

Contact us for a free copy of your 2024 Benchmark Report, which includes insights on investment performance benchmarks and details from the pension ranking report for public pension funds.

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