Indiana increased public pension assets despite pandemic

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana's public pension funds for state and local government employees, including teachers, has apparently weathered the financial markets' volatility during the coronavirus pandemic, new data from the state show.

The General Assembly's Pension Management Oversight Committee heard Wednesday that the Indiana Public Retirement System increased its pension assets by 2.56% to $30.6 billion during the 2020 budget year, which ran from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020.

According to INPRS, the state's prepaid pension programs were 90.6% funded, an increase from their 88.1% funded status at the end of the 2019 budget year, The (Northwest Indiana) Times reported. That means the fund currently has resources on hand to pay 90.6% of all the money it eventually will be required to distribute to pension program participants.

Prepaid pension programs generally are considered financially healthy when they are at or above 80% funded.

'œEven with everything that has happened, we remain well funded and we're not anticipating any increase in employer contributions,'ť said Steve Russo, INPRS's executive director.

He said with continued annual state appropriations to pay pensions to those retired teachers, along with the resources available in the state's Pension Stabilization Fund, the cost of Indiana's pre-1996 teacher pension fund is poised to peak in 2026-27.