Employee contributions to public pensions fell during the first quarter of 2016, and employer contributions also dropped, although assets were up — slightly — for the quarter.

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicated that, while employee contributions dropped in the first quarter of 2016 by 3.6 percent compared with the last quarter of 2015, from $11.5 billion to $11.1 billion, they were up year-to-year by 5.5 percent, from $10.5 billion in the first quarter of 2015.

Employer contributions were also lower. The ratio of government contributions to employee contributions was 2.6 to 1, as government contributions comprised 72.2 percent of total contributions. But while in the fourt quarter of 2015 employer contributions totaled $30.4 billion, in the first quarter of 2016 they amounted to $28.7 billion. They were up, however, year over year from the first quarter of 2015’s $25.8 billion.

Total benefit payments were $63.9 billion for the first quarter of 2016, up 5.1 percent from $60.9 billion last quarter, and up 4.6 percent from $61.1 billion for the same quarter last year.

For the 100 largest public-employee pension systems in the country, assets (cash and investments) totaled $3,252.2 billion in the first quarter of 2016, increasing by 0.1 percent from the 2015 fourth-quarter level of $3,249.4 billion. Compared to the same quarter in 2015, assets for these major public pension systems fell 4.0 percent from $3,388.5 billion.

Cash and short-term investments were down, quarter to quarter, by 4.8 percent, from $105.4 billion in the fourth quarter of 2015 to $100.4 billion in the first quarter of 2016. Cash and short-term investments also fell year over year by 4 percent, from $104.5 billion; they made up 3.1 percent of total assets of major public pension systems for the current quarter.

Corporate stocks and bonds, which made up 36.5 percent and 12.8 percent, respectively, of total assets, were both up quarter to quarter; however, both fell year over year.

The asset categories highlighted in this summary are the major asset categories (equities, debt instruments, and cash equivalents) and do not reflect all the categories.

Instant Insights /

Employee contributions to public pensions down in first quarter

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