SCERS’ investments continued to perform very well in the second quarter, April through July
2026. The returns were 7.51% for the quarter and 14.78% for the past year, after investment fees. Over the past 10 years the investments have yielded 9.19%, after investment fees. In comparison to 90 to 100 other large public pension funds, we are performing about average recently, but that 9.19% on an annualized basis. This is better than three-fourths (75%) of the others.
Most importantly, SCERS investments now have and estimated 80.5% of the funds necessary to pay retiree pensions, assuming we all live as long as the actuaries expect. The goal is 100% funding, of course. That triggers an increase in the “floor COLA”. Today that “floor COLA” is 65%. At 100% funding, it rises to 70%. The law states that the purchasing power of any single pension must always retain 65% of its original purchasing power. So an increase to 70% means a significant bump in pensions City employees who retired a number of years ago, who are about 5% of those presently receiving pensions. The annual COLA affecting all pensions remains at 1.5%. 100% funding will not affect that. The graph at right shows the progress in getting to 100% since 2015. The funded status was 76.5% in January 2025, and 79.7% in January 2026.
The stock market has been doing well, for considerable period. However, the Retirement Fund is a mix of investments. About 47% is in “public equity”, that is the stock markets, 11% in private equity, 26% in fixed income such as the bond market, 9% in real estate, and 3% in infrastructure, such as pipelines and fiber optic cables.
The information above is from the SCERS Investment Committee meeting of August 27, 2026. Such meetings are open to public participation either in-person or via Microsoft Teams.
While this is all good news, there are clouds on the horizon, as you all know. The national debt is at 40 trillion dollars, diesel and gasoline prices are high which affects the costs of all goods, and tariffs affect the costs of most imports. All of this contributes to inflation, which is already above 3% for the year.
Comments and suggestions? Email me bill@schrier.org or bill.schrier-c@seattle.gov