WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the American Investment Council released its 2025 public pension study, showing that private equity continues to deliver steady, reliable, and robust returns for public pension funds. In 2024, private equity investments delivered a median annualized return of 13.5 percent over a 10-year period. More than 90% of institutional investors are planning to either increase or maintain their current allocations to private equity over the long term. Every year since 2012, our study has found that private equity is the best-returning asset class in public pension portfolios, outperforming public equity, real estate, and fixed income.
The study analyzed 200 U.S public pension funds.
Top Ten Public Pension Funds by Private Equity Returns:
- The Vermont Pension Investment Commission- 18.82%
- The Ohio School Employees Retirement System – 17.20%
- West Virginia’s Investment Management Board – 17.03%
- Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Trust – 16.88%
- Illinois State Board of Investment – 16.70%
- City of Baltimore Employees’ Retirement System – 16.50%
- Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System – 15.99%
- Chicago Policeman’s Annuity & Benefits Fund – 15.94%
- New Mexico Public Employee’s Retirement System – 15.92%
- The Florida Retirement System – 15.81%