Study says most U.S. pensions are poised to recover

Last week, IBJ reported that Indiana’s public pensions have lost billions of dollars
as U.S. markets soured. But a new national
analysis of U.S. public pension funds suggests most invest prudently, even in volatile times.

On Nov. 24, the Washington, D.C.-based National Institute on Retirement Security released a report titled, "In it for
the
Long Haul: The Investment Behavior of Public Pensions." It studied public pensions’ patterns from 1993 to 2005. The report
suggests most pensions follow well-established practices for long-term investing, even during market plunges like the one
in 2001.

NIRS reports that U.S. pensions actively rebalance their investment assets in response to price changes. But it argues they
don’t follow a "herd mentality" that chases returns. Instead, NIRS reports most pensions are cautious and follow
their industry’s
best practices.

"I’ve heard [the economic] turmoil referred to as a Category 5 hurricane. In that, everybody gets a little wet,"
NIRS Executive
Director Beth Almeida told IBJ. "But are you the house replacing a few roof tiles
because it was built to weather the storm?
Or a smaller structure that can’t weather it as well? Pensions have professional asset management and large pools of capital
to enhance diversification."