Real estate returns have been robust in the past year, outperforming other asset classes, according to investment return reports from several U.S. public pension funds for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015.

The Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System, the Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois, the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System and the Teachers’ Retirement System of Louisiana all saw significantly lower overall returns in the past year, compared with the previous fiscal year, but the pension funds’ real estate allocations remained a bright spot.

PSERS had a total return of 3.0 percent, down from 14.9 percent for the previous year; IPERS had a total return of 4.0 percent, a drop from 15.9 percent in the previous year; Illinois TRS had a total return of 4.1 percent, a decrease from 18.1 percent the previous year;