Iowa PERS Announces 5.41% Return for Fiscal 2023, Exceeding Benchmark

The board of the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System announced a 5.41% return for the fiscal year that ended June 30, exceeding its policy benchmark of 5.27%. The returns resulted in a $1 billion increase in the fund’s value to $41.13 billion.

“IPERS overcame several market challenges in FY2023, including interest rate hikes, debt ceiling concerns and uncertainly in some aspects of the private markets sector to achieve a positive return,” IPERS CEO Greg Samorajski said in a statement. “I’m proud of our team of investment professionals who remain steadfast in their commitment to the long-term security of the IPERS Trust Fund.”

Domestic equity was the fund’s best-performing asset class, with an 8.03% quarterly return for the final quarter of the fiscal year. Private real assets were the worst-performing class in the quarter, losing 2.86%.

IPERS is the largest public retirement system in Iowa, with more than 392,725 members.

The fund also announced plans to its allocation to international equities to 13% from 16.5% and increase its allocation to core fixed income to 22.5% from 19% in the near future. Allocation to U.S. equity, private equity, credit, cash and global smart beta remained the same, in line with current policy.