Corporate Bond

A new study of public pension returns by Cliffwater LLC has found that the median U.S. state pension plan returned just 5.9% annually over the 10 years ended June 30, 2016.  Meanwhile, as Pension and Investments notes, the top performing state pension, the $15.6 billion Oklahoma Teachers' Retirement System, was the only fund that managed to eek out a return over 7% during the same period.

We've frequently argued that public pensions in the U.S. are nothing more than elaborate ponzi schemes being propped up by unrealistic accounting assumptions that make them seem more healthy than they actually are.  As it turns out, the State Budget Director of Kentucky, John Chilton, is coming around to our way of thinking.