Public pensions post record earnings

The 100 largest public pension plans earned $179.2 billion on investments in the first quarter, the most since the U.S. Census Bureau began collecting the data in 1974.

Total holdings and investments rose 5.6 percent in the quarter to $2.8 trillion, the second-highest level since U.S. equities markets collapsed in 2008 amid the worst recession since the 1930s, the census reported Thursday.

Stocks increased 17.6 percent in the quarter to $967.2 billion, the report said, as corporate bonds fell 6.9 percent to $371.9 billion. International securities climbed 16.3 percent to $550 billion.

- Bloomberg