PERS gets back most of recession losses

The Public Employees Retirement System, which manages the retirement funds for public employees in Nevada, has nearly recovered the massive losses its portfolio suffered over the past three years of recession.

PERS Investment Officer Ken Lambert said Wednesday that, in the fiscal year ended June 30, the system's portfolio grew by 10.8 percent to more than $22 billion. He said the system is within $400 million of the $22.6 billion peak assets in October 2007 before the recession hit the stock and bond markets.

"We stayed committed to our strategy," he said. "It's tempting, when things go down, to change."

That is a far different picture than the 3.4 percent loss the system suffered over the past three years.

At one point, the portfolio was down to $15.8 billion.

PERS actually began to recover those losses in the summer of 2009.

Lambert also said in addition to maintaining their investment strategy, the system has taken advantage of the drop in stock values, buying while values were low. Those stocks, he said, have steadily recovered their value, greatly helping the system recover.

But he and Executive Officer Dana Bilyeu have consistently maintained they don't take risks with the money which covers 105,000 active members and more than 40,000 retirees.

"We're in it for the long haul," Lambert said.

The system manages retirement plans for 173 public employers in Nevada including all 17 school districts. PERS also manages some investment money in the reserves maintained by the Public Employee Benefits Program.

The fiscal year numbers were presented Wednesday at the PERS Board meeting in Carson City.