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Administration August 5, 2011
Illinois TRS Reports 24% Return
August 5, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – The Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System reported preliminary investment returns of 24% for fiscal year 2011.
Reported by Rebecca Moore
Total TRS assets on June 30, 2011 were $37.1 billion, an 18.5% increase over the 2010 total of $31.3 billion, according to preliminary, unaudited year-end statistics released by the TRS Board of Trustees.
A news release said the 24% rate of return follows a 13.5% investment return at the end of FY 2010. Over the last 30 years, the TRS investment rate of return is 9.3%, which exceeds the current target rate of 8.5%.
The two years of positive returns follow two years of negative investment returns caused by the worldwide financial crisis of 2008 and 2009. During that period, total TRS assets bottomed at $28.5 billion at the end of FY 2009, but since have rebounded in a positive direction by 30.2%.
“Investment income gains like this are very good news for our members,” said TRS Executive Director Dick Ingram, in the announcement. “Strong growth in assets increases the security of TRS for the 372,000 women and men who depend on us to provide them with the retirement they have earned. Our investment staff has done an excellent job in an uncertain economy of reducing risk and maximizing the potential of our investment opportunities.”