Investment Updates
Message from Chief Investment Officer Rod June
February 2025
With 2024 behind us, financial markets experienced strong resilience but navigated pressing challenges. On the one hand, investors witnessed growth in GDP, declining inflation, reduction in interest rates, strength in corporate earnings, improving unemployment figures, and sound footing in the banking system.
Message from Chief Investment Officer Rod June
July 2024
With the first half of the year behind us, the U.S. economy continues to fire on all cylinders as stock markets reached all-time highs: the S&P 500 up 14.5%, Nasdaq up 18.1%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 3.8%. The rally has been fueled, in part, by investments in the Information Technology sector, which has surged 27.8% the first six months of the year as interest in artificial intelligence and the capacity it promises for greater efficiencies and streamlining capabilities remains at the forefront of investors’ minds.
Message from Chief Investment Officer Rod June
February 2023
In the last article, I discussed the unfolding of the pandemic and its impact on the global investment market. Despite the steep decline in early 2020, a rapid reversal resulted in a net return of 29.09% for LACERS’ one-year total fund ending June 30, 2021.
Message from Chief Investment Officer Rod June
May 2022
The beginning of this decade started off with a wild investment experience with two recent but different investment market periods that will end with different performance outcomes. As COVID began to spread globally in early 2020, investors reacted quickly with a shift to less risky assets; thus, began a very steep decline in public market valuations for several months with no end in sight.
Message from Chief Investment Officer Rod June
May 2021
The past 12 months has seen an unprecedented level of economic stimulus injected into the U.S. economy. While essential to a strong rebound recovery, these stimulus programs have the potential to lead to rising inflation. Is the Board of Administration concerned about inflation and how do they consider its impact on the LACERS investment program?
LACERS Investment Update
February 2020
In 2019 the U.S. stock market had one of its best performing years on record. Stocks, as reflected by the S&P 500 Index, gained 28.9%. To put that in historical perspective, in only four of the past 50 years have returns been higher. But if a recession hits and stocks go down, what happens to investments that pay pensions and other retirement benefits earned by City of Los Angeles employees and their beneficiaries? Fortunately, the LACERS portfolio is designed to endure both good and bad economic times.
Stay the Course!
January 2019
You are probably aware that the stock market has recently experienced strong volatility. A long-overdue correction was anticipated by most investors; the U.S. equity markets as reflected by the S&P 500 are down 10% for the month of December alone. To better understand the current markets and what LACERS does to withstand volatility, it’s helpful to examine past market cycles and what was learned.