The Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board (PRIM) today announced that the $72 billion Pension Reserves Investment Trust (PRIT) Fund returned 10 percent (gross of fees) in fiscal year 2018 – exceeding its benchmark index by 186 basis points.

At PRIM’s Board meeting on August 14, Executive Director and Chief Investment Officer Michael G. Trotsky, CFA outlined PRIM’s strong returns for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018. Net of fees return was 9.5 percent – 140 basis points above benchmark.

“The fiscal year 2018 was another exceptionally strong year for PRIM,” said Trotsky. “We know of no other fund our size or larger that outperformed us. Six of seven major asset classes outperformed their benchmarks net of fees.”

Leading the strong year was PRIM’s private equity portfolio, which returned 19.9 percent (net of fees), followed by global equities which returned 11.7 percent, real estate at 8.9 percent, and timberland, with a return of 7.4 percent.

“We evaluate the performance of the PRIT fund on three equally important metrics: return, risk, and cost,” remarked Trotsky. “The returns of each asset class and the entire PRIT fund were very strong both relative to the benchmarks and in absolute terms.”