CalSTRS earned a fairly robust 13.45 percent return on its investments in 2012, the pension fund reported.
The gains, which included strong performances in stocks and real estate, reflect improvement in the financial markets in the past six months. During the fiscal year that ended last June 30, CalSTRS earned just 1.8 percent. The latest results are for calendar 2012.
While the 13.45 percent profit exceeded the teachers' pension fund's official annual goal of 7.5 percent, it didn't alter the huge funding shortfall CalSTRS has been warning about for the past several years.
According to a report prepared for the Legislature, the California State Teachers' Retirement System has a long-term deficit of $64 billion. Although pension reforms enacted by the Legislature last year will save some money, the fund is still on track to run out of cash by 2047.
The report blames "the weak financial markets of the past decade." Despite the latest results, the fund was averaging just 6.5 percent in profit per year during the 10 years that ended last June.
CalSTRS is preparing to go to the Legislature next week with a proposal to raise contribution rates. The fund took in $5.8 billion in contributions in the last fiscal year - about $2.3 billion from teachers, $2.2 billion from school districts and $1.3 billion from the state.
Unlike CalPERS, the teachers' fund needs the Legislature's permission to increase contributions.
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