PA teachers' pension fund lost $1.7 billion
The Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System lost nearly 3 percent on its investments in the past year, as real estate and stock values plunged.
The $63 billion Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System lost nearly 3 percent on its investments in the year ended June 30, spokeswoman Evelyn Tatkovski said. The smaller State Employees' Retirement System reported similar losses for the first half of 2008 yesterday.
PSERS says it made money on bonds, commodities and private-equity investments, but lost on stocks and real estate. Private-equity and real estate profits (losses) are hard to independently verify, since the state doesn't identify those investments, they're often illiquid, and actual returns aren't reported until they're sold.
The system has plenty of money to pay pensions to 100,000 retired teachers for years to come, but it'll have to increase future subsidies from state and school-district taxpayers to meet long-term goals, unless investment returns recover strongly.