The Public Employees’ Retirement Association of Colorado announced Thursday a 14.1% return in calendar 2025, trailing its benchmark of 16.3%. The fund’s combined investment fund includes several pension and trust funds, and its assets rose to $75.1 billion at the end of last year.
The funded status of the five funds within the combined investment fund dipped slightly to 69.1% in 2025 from 69.2% in 2024, representing an unfunded pension liability of $30.1 billion. The fund has stated it will make no changes to its member contribution rates and will provide a cost-of-living adjustment of 1% to all of its members in 2026 and to most in 2027.
During the state’s 2025 legislative session, the Colorado General Assembly passed four laws affecting the pension fund, including by modifying the PERA board, introducing risk reduction measures and increasing employer contributions for some employers within PERA. One bill contributed funds with the stated goal of reaching fully funded status by 2048.
“PERA’s investment portfolio earned strong returns in 2025, keeping us on track toward the full funding goal established by SB18-200,” said Andrew Roth, PERA’s CEO and executive director, in a statement. “While our funded status dipped slightly due to the final year of smoothing the investment losses incurred in the significant market downturn of 2022, three subsequent years of strong investment gains position PERA well moving forward.”
The fund allocates 51% of its assets to global equities, 23% to fixed income, 10% to private equity, 10% to real estate, and 6% to alternatives. In 2025, PERA paid $4.78 billion in benefits to 119,283 retirees, which the fund said resulted in $7.32 billion in total economic output and supported 26,500 jobs in Colorado.
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Tags: Colorado PERA