Public Pension Assets

Quarterly Update (Q1 2025)

The Federal Reserve publishes data on state and local defined benefit assets on a quarterly basis. As of the first quarter of 2025 (March 31st), aggregate public pension assets were an estimated $6.10 trillion, a decrease of 1.3 percent from the $6.18 trillion reported for the prior quarter. This value is higher than the same quarter one year ago by some $159 billion, or 2.7 percent. 

This value is subject to revision in future reports. The next release is scheduled for September 2025.

Quarterly Change in State & Local Defined Benefit Assets, 2003-2025 


Annual Update

The Federal Reserve reported in March 2025 that the combined value of defined benefit plan assets held by state and local governments as of Q4 2024 increased by 7.9 percent, to $6.17 trillion, from $5.72 trillion as of Q4 2023.

Annual Change in State & Local Defined Benefit Assets, 2003-2024


Become A Member

Becoming a member of NASRA offers a unique opportunity to join a community committed to the sound, efficient, and innovative stewardship of public retirement systems. Membership connects you with a network of professionals and experts, providing valuable insights into managing public retirement systems with a focus on sustainability and risk-averse strategies.

By joining NASRA, you gain the tools and resources to enhance the management of public retirement systems, ensuring their long-term success and reliability for generations to come.


 

What's New at NASRA: Public Pension Investment Return Assumption Brief Updated

NASRA’s latest update to standing issue briefs, Public Pension Plan Investment Return Assumptions underscores the critical role the investment return assumption plays in the financial health of public pension plans. Of all actuarial assumptions, it has the greatest impact on plan funding levels and cost. This brief traces how a decade of low interest rates and inflation, beginning in 2009, prompted many plans to reduce their long-term expected returns in line with more modest capital market projections. However, since inflation began rising in early 2021, the trend toward lowering return assumptions has largely paused. While reducing a plan’s assumed return can increase both costs and unfunded liabilities, setting this assumption is a careful, thorough process. It draws on expert input from actuaries and investment professionals and is guided by actuarial standards of practice.