VIRGINIA: The Virginia Retirement System (VRS) earned a 4.6 percent return on investment income in the fiscal year that ended June 30, lagging the 7 percent annual return it relies upon to help fund state and local employee pensions.
The retirement system ended the fiscal year with an estimated $68.1 billion in assets. The return on investment income is a critical part of the formula for funding pensions of more than 342,000 active employees, 184,000 retirees and almost 132,000 people who are no longer active employees but have contributions invested from past services.
The retirement system assumes an average annual return of 7 percent when setting contribution rates for state government and other employers. VRS will recommend contribution rates in October for state employees and teachers that the General Assembly must fund by at least 90 percent in the next two year state budget.
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