Champaign, IL – The State Universities Retirement System (SURS) announced Friday their portfolio returned 8.25 percent during Fiscal Year 2018, net of fees, exceeding the policy portfolio return of 7.86 percent. From a long-term perspective, the SURS portfolio has performed well, earning an 8.5 percent annualized rate of return over the past 30 years, well in excess of both the 8.1 percent policy portfolio return and the 7.25 percent assumed rate of return.
Also on Friday, SURS Board of Trustees approved hiring Callan Associates as its real assets consultant for a five-year term, contingent on successful contract negotiations.
The consultant will work with the board and staff to select real asset investments consistent with SURS asset allocation and Investment Procurement Policy, monitor real asset managers and investments, and provide quarterly and annual reports.
In other business:
- Trustees approved updating SURS strategic asset allocation targets to be implemented over the next several years. Targets are as follows:
| Asset Class | Weight |
|---|---|
| Non-Traditional Growth | 15% |
| Traditional Growth | 25% |
| Stabilized Growth | 26% |
| Inflation Protection | 6% |
| Principal Protection | 8% |
| Crisis Risk Offset | 20% |
- SURS FY 2019 Investment Plan was presented and can be found at here.
- The board adopted SURS Investment Beliefs to serve as a guide in the decision making process and as a reference point for future board and staff decisions. The Investment Beliefs will be periodically reviewed and updated. The page can be found on the SURS website here.
- SURS will request full redemption from hedge fund-of-funds KKR Prisma Codlin Fund and Newport Monarch Fund.
The State Universities Retirement System of Illinois serves over 230,000 members and 61 employers and has assets of $20.7 billion. The System provides retirement, disability and survivor benefits to state university and community college faculty and staff.