New Jersey’s pension fund returned 14.82% for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2026, Treasury’s Division of Investment reported during Wednesday’s meeting of the State Investment Council.
The return is 7.82 percentage points above the long-term assumed rate of return, according to Treasury. This performance, coupled with the state’s record pension payment of $7.3 billion for fiscal 2027, is expected to further strengthen the pension funds.
The 2027 pension payment represents the sixth full payment in a row and the first under the administration of Gov. Mikie Sherrill. The payment was cited by Kroll Bond Rating Agency as one reason for their recent credit rating upgrade of New Jersey.
This is the third consecutive year the fund has seen double-digit returns, leading to a three-year annualized return of 12.16%.
“The strong results over the past three years, along with the administration’s commitment to making the full payment, represent a huge step in returning the pension fund to solid ground,” said State Treasurer Aaron Binder.
All asset classes in the pension fund’s portfolio generated positive returns in fiscal 2026. Within the portfolio’s public equity asset class, emerging markets delivered the highest return at 39.53%, followed by U.S. equity at 23.20% and international developed market equity at 21.61%. Real Assets delivered 23.76%, while its benchmark closed the fiscal year at 13.33%, an outperformance of 10.43%, according to Treasury.
Performance numbers are pending completion of the fiscal 2026 audit.
