by Bob Jacksha, Chief Investment Officer
The main goal of our approach to investing is to produce long-term returns that meet our actuarial funding objective of 7% returns. If we were to fall short of that goal, it would take a longer amount of time than we would like to pay the expenses of the retirement plan.
As of September 30, 2023, the one-year return was 8.77%. The average annual return for all years since we initiated performance reporting in July of 1983 was 8.87%. All periods between 1983 and 2023 also exceeded our target of 7%. Full details, including many other metrics, are available on the Investment Performance page of the website in the 3rd Quarter Investment Analysis Report.
In addition to producing an acceptable return, our approach reduces volatility by investing in a variety of asset classes. The classes are chosen to react differently to a variety of economic conditions and regimes. This strategy has proven to be successful over time. We will continue to follow this method in the future to not only grow but also protect the value of the fund.