San Diego County’s employee pension fund’s unfunded liability, the total debt owed to all its more than 17,000 members, declined to about $1.2 billion from last year’s level of about $1.4 billion, according to a report from the pension fund’s independent actuary, New York City-based the Segal Co.
Brian White, chief executive officer of the $7.6 billion fund, announced the results of the actuary Oct. 27, saying the fund’s numbers are moving in the right direction.
“This growth increased the plan’s funding level and decreased the unfunded liability and employer contribution rates,” White said.
White also said an earlier loss of $105 million in a Connecticut-based hedge fund has been reduced to $85 million, according to the latest reports he received from Amaranth Advisors LLC.
The county fund invested $175 million in Amaranth last year, and won’t be able to redeem the value of that investment until the decimated hedge fund liquidates itself, a process that began in September.
Amaranth lost more than two-thirds of its value, dropping by more than $6 billion, after it invested heavily in energy futures that went in the opposite direction.
The Amaranth investment was about 2 percent of the fund’s total at the time. Even counting the losses caused by the Amaranth meltdown, the county pension fund would still post gains of about $50 million for the past quarter, White said.
For the full year ended June 30, the county fund posted a return of 14.9 percent, better than the prior year’s return of 14.2 percent.
, Mike Allen
