LASERS Investment Return 14.3%

LASERS fiscal year-to-date investment return is 14.3 percent as of April 30, 2014. Based on this performance, LASERS current total plan value exceeds $10.6 billion. 

LASERS Chief Investment Officer Bobby Beale said, “LASERS five-year and 10-year annualized investment return is 14.4 percent and 8.1 percent respectively. We are pleased to see the plan perform well over these long-term time periods.” 

In the Wilshire’s Trust Universe Comparison Service (TUCS) most recent peer comparison, LASERS ranked in the top 15 percent based on 10-year returns and in the top 14 percent based on seven-year returns. The TUCS comparison is conducted among pension systems with assets exceeding $1 billion and is the most widely accepted benchmark for the performance of institutional assets. 

“LASERS has realized a $1.4 billion increase in our market value over the past two years,” said LASERS Executive Director Cindy Rougeou, “and I am proud to say that our investment team manages approximately one-third of the investments internally, saving over nine million dollars this year alone in fees.” 

LASERS provides a defined benefit pension plan that covers approximately 150,000 members. LASERS pays over $1 billion in annual benefits to retirees and their beneficiaries, providing a strong and reliable economic stimulus for Louisiana. 

For more information, please contact LASERS Public Information Director Tonja Normand at tnormand@lasersonline.org or 225.922.1131. 

Rougeou Updates Media on LASERS

Baton Rouge Press Club

LASERS Executive Director Cindy Rougeou and Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera jointly spoke to the Baton Rouge Press Club on Monday, November 4.

Rougeou provided an update on the status of LASERS, including how reforms have improved the System, investment performance, and the impact of the recent layoffs on System health. Purpera focused on the cost of the accruing benefit as compared to Social Security, the employee and employer contribution rate, funding level and progress toward payment of the unfunded accrued liability (UAL), including the funded ratio. Rougeou and Purpera fielded questions from the audience following their presentation.

Watch a clip from the Baton Rouge Press Club presentation (5 minutes). 


The Jim Engster Show

Radio host Jim Engster interviewed Cindy Rougeou on Wednesday, October 30. Rougeou shared the latest information about LASERS, touching on investment performance and the health of the System. She reassured members that the retirement system is solvent and in great shape for the future.

In case you missed the interview, visit the WRKF website here and advance the broadcast to the 41:05 minute mark.  

LASERS Posts Strong Investment Return

The Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System (LASERS) has posted an investment return of 12.6 percent for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013, which brings the total asset value for LASERS to over $9.7 billion. 

“We are pleased to announce double digit returns for the 2012-2013 fiscal year,” said LASERS Chief Investment Officer Bobby Beale. “In addition, LASERS continues to focus on long range investment returns, which rank us in the top quartile among our peers nationwide.” LASERS highly credentialed staff internally manages approximately one-third of its portfolio, saving the System millions of dollars per year in professional management fees.

LASERS 10 year investment return is 8.2 percent. The most recent peer comparison as of June 30, 2013, places LASERS in the top 19 percent ranking over a 10 year period for public funds greater than $1 billion, according to Wilshire’s Trust Universe Comparison Service (TUCS). TUCS is the most widely accepted benchmark for the performance of institutional assets and represents the largest database of any peer-comparison service in the industry.

“Our investment performance is consistently among the best in the nation,” said LASERS Executive Director Cindy Rougeou. “We are pleased to report to our members that LASERS is continuing to move forward in a positive direction.”