Oklahoma City post-employment trust reports strong first-half returns; trustees renew contracts and ratify claims

Oklahoma City — The Oklahoma City Post Employment Benefits Trust on Aug. 13 received a quarterly investment report showing strong first-half performance and unanimously approved a series of routine contract renewals, a trustee travel authorization and the ratification of claims.

The trust’s June 30 report, presented by Jason, showed the portfolio ending June at about $120 million and rising to about $121 million in July. Jason said non-U.S. developed-market stocks were the top performer through June, up “almost 19.5%,” while the S&P 500 was up about 6% year to date. Emerging markets rose roughly 15.25%, and U.S. investment-grade bonds returned about 4% year to date and about 6% over the prior 12 months. Jason also said the trust’s five-year and 10-year returns were about 11% and 9%, respectively, exceeding the plan’s assumed 7.5% rate used for discounting liabilities.

“The diversification has helped,” Jason said, noting that a weaker dollar contributed to non-U.S. performance and that small-cap stocks had recently rallied after lagging earlier in the year. He also said the trust earned about $64.1 million in investment earnings over a 10-year period and that peer rankings were favorable in part because of a…