July 28, 2015 — The Annual Survey of Public Pensions provides a comprehensive look at the financial activity of the nation’s state- and locally-administered defined benefit pension systems, including cash and investment holdings, receipts, payments, pension obligations and membership information. Statistics are available at the national level and for individual states.

National level findings include:

• Total assets increased 12.8 percent, from $3.3 trillion in 2013 to $3.7 trillion in 2014.
•  Earnings on investments grew 40.6 percent, from $382.2 billion in 2013 to $537.5 billion in 2014.
• Contributions grew 8.4 percent, from $153.7 billion in 2013 to $166.6 billion in 2014. The overall increase in contributions was driven by increases in government contributions.
  • Government contributions increased 11.1 percent, from $108.9 billion in 2013 to $121.1 billion in 2014.
  • Employee contributions increased 1.7 percent, from $44.7 billion in 2013 to $45.5 billion in 2014.
• Total payments grew 5.6 percent, from $258.3 billion in 2013 to $272.9 billion in 2014.
• The total number of beneficiaries increased 3.2 percent, from 9,263,846 people in 2013 to 9,561,562 in 2014.

No news release associated with this report. Tip Sheet only.