By Rob Kozlowski
Source: Pensions & Investments

U.S. retirement plans could not escape historically negative equity and fixed-income markets during the year ended Sept. 30 and posted the highest-percentage asset losses in nearly half a century of Pensions & Investments’annual surveys.

In the year ended Sept. 30, the 1,000 largest U.S. retirement funds saw their assets plummet to $12.16 trillion, a record-setting 13.9% loss from a year earlier when the universe had reached an all-time high of $14.13 trillion.

That previous high was the result of a banner year of spectacularly strong returns in public and private equity and other alternative investment strategies, along with higher contributions to defined benefit and defined contribution plans.

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