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Public Pension Holdings Slip Slightly

The assets of the 100 largest U.S. public employee pension systems fell slightly from the first quarter of 2015 to the second, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Their collective holdings amounted to $3.369 trillion, down 1% from the $3.401 trillion they had at the end of the first quarter.

These figures are the product of mixed results from the major places in which these public pensions are invested.

Corporate stocks, which at 35.9% comprise the largest portion of those holdings, fell in value by 4.1%, from $1.262 trillion to $1.211 trillion. Corporate bonds, which account for 12.5% of public pension holdings, fell 2.5%, from $430.7 billion to $420.1 billion.

Conversely, yield from international securities, 18.4% of public pensions’ holdings, grew by almost 1% from the first quarter to the second, from $612.7 billion to $618.3 billion. And yield from federal securities was $260.8 billion in the second quarter, 1.4% more than the $257.2 billion yield in the first quarter.

And outstripping the growth rate of international securities and federal securities were government contributions to public pension plans, which were 5.8% higher in the second quarter than in the first, rising from $24.9 billion to $26.3 billion.