Kentucky TRS posts 15.37% gross return for fiscal year 2017

The $19 billion Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Kentucky posted a 15.37 percent gross return for the recently concluded fiscal year ending June 30, 2017. This number exceeds the plan’s assumed 7.5 percent rate of return and is among the top 8 percent of large pension plans.

Along with its performance ranking in the top 8 percent for the most recent year, TRS’s investments were in the top 9 percent for the 10-year period. Both rankings are according to Aon Hewitt Investment Consulting’s analysis of large domestic pension plans with more than $1 billion in assets. Returns for the pension fund over the last 30 years are 8.1 percent.

During the year, TRS benefitted from the first installments of more than $900 million in additional funding approved by the General Assembly and Gov. Matt Bevin — the first such appropriation since 2008.

“The additional funding provided by the governor and legislators couldn’t have come at a better time,” sai