Assets of the 1,000 largest U.S. retirement plans hit $10 trillion

PR Newswire

NEW YORK, Feb. 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Assets of the 1,000 largest U.S. retirement plans grew to $10.33 trillion as of Sept. 30, up 10% from 12 months earlier and the highest level in the history of Pensions & Investments' annual survey released today.

During the survey period, assets of defined benefit pension plans in the top 1,000 rose 7.9% to a total of $6.6 trillion, while defined contribution plan assets rose 13.9% to $3.7 trillion.

"Each year, this survey drives home the point that the money being saved for retirement in the U.S. is among the largest pools of invested assets anywhere in the world," said Amy B. Resnick, editor of Pensions & Investments. "The importance of this money to individuals and the global economy can't be underestimated."

Among the 200 largest retirement plans, assets totaled $7.45 trillion as of Sept. 30, up 9.7% from the year earlier. Of this, $5.22 trillion belonged to DB plans (up 8%) and $2.23 trillion to DC plans (up 13.9%).

The country's largest retirement plan, the Federal Thrift Savings Plan, Washington, exceeded $500 billion in assets. The giant defined contribution plan for federal employees reported $531.49 billion in assets as of Sept. 30, a gain of 9.5%. TSP, which was created in 1986, is 57.8% larger than second place California Public Employees' Retirement System.

The Thrift Savings Plan now accounts for 5.1% of the P&I 1,000 universe's total plan assets. It has ranked first since 2009.

All five of the largest retirement plans in the country are public plans. The ranking of the five largest retirement plans remained unchanged from last year.

The California Public Employees' Retirement System, Sacramento, came in second with $336.68 billion in assets, up 9.8% from the previous year.

Rounding out the top five were the California State Teachers' Retirement System, West Sacramento, up 11.5% to $216.19 billion; New York State Common Retirement Fund, Albany, up 9.1% to $201.26 billion; and the New York City Retirement Systems, at $189.79 billion, up 10.6%.

The largest corporate retirement plan remains Chicago-based The Boeing Co. with $121.72 billion in total assets, up 13.4%, and ranking eighth overall.

The largest union plan remains the $39.77 billion Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Trust, Seattle, up 6.8% from its $37.24 billion in assets a year earlier. It ranks 48^th overall.

Pensions & Investments has compiled the survey of the 1,000 largest plans since 1979. The newspaper began tracking assets of the 100 largest plans in 1974, when they were all defined benefit plans. The survey involves reporting, data gathering and verification by the news organization's entire U.S. editorial team.

Questionnaires were sent to more than 1,300 fund sponsors in P&I's database. The largest 1,000 were identified from completed questionnaires, follow-up phone calls and emails, and database searches.

Data for funds that did not respond were culled from published annual reports and Form 5500s filed with the Department of Labor. Morningstar Inc. provided source materials used as references to gather the most recent historical asset data for certain plans. P&I's survey generally covers the 12 months ended Sept. 30, 2017.

About Pensions & Investments
With unmatched integrity and professionalism, Pensions & Investments consistently delivers news, research and analysis to the executives who manage the flow of funds in the institutional investment market. Since its founding in 1973, this continues to be the mission of Pensions & Investments, the international newspaper of money management. Written for pension, portfolio and investment management executives at the hub of this market, Pensions & Investments provides its audience with timely and incisive coverage of events affecting the money management business. With a worldwide network of reporters and correspondents, Pensions & Investments' coverage includes business and financial news, legislative reports, global investments, product development, technology, investment performance, executive changes, corporate governance and other topics crucial to the people who drive the world of professional money.

(PRNewsfoto/Pensions & Investments)