CHICAGO — The Iowa Public Employees' Retirement System's funded ratio rose to 82.7% in the last fiscal year up from 81% a year earlier.
The size of the unfunded obligations for the state's largest public employees' fund dropped to $5.5 billion from $5.8 billion, according to the latest results submitted to the retirement fund Dec. 4 by its actuaries at Cavanaugh MacDonald Consulting LLC.
The fund's improvements were due in part to a 15.9% rate of return on its asset investments. IPERS covers employees of state agencies, school districts, cities, counties.
State lawmakers in 2010 altered member benefits aimed at improving the system's health. They included raising the number of years an employee must work to become vested, extending the years used to calculate an employee's annuity, and reducing benefits for early retirees.
In a review of funded ratios over the last decade, the fund hit a low of 79.9% in 2011 and a high of 90 % in 2007.
