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Brinker Capital tells Susquehanna County board the pension plan returned about 12.6% in 2025
Summary
A Brinker Capital representative told the Susquehanna County retirement board that the county's pension plan returned about 12.6% net in 2025, driven by international equities and real assets; the presenter said assets now slightly exceed liabilities and discussed a modest shift in 2026 strategy.
A representative from Brinker Capital told the Susquehanna County retirement board that the county's retirement plan returned about 12.6% net of fees in 2025, translating to roughly $4.3 million in appreciation.
The presentation, given during the pension-board portion of the March meeting, said the plan's assets exceed its liabilities and contrasted the county's position with other Pennsylvania plans that remain in deficit. "The assets are a little bit more than the liabilities," the Brinker Capital representative said, and noted that this reduces pressure to raise local taxes to fund the plan.
Brinker highlighted drivers of last year's performance: a roughly 20% allocation to international equities (international equities outpaced U.S. equities in 2025) and a 'real assets' sleeve (including gold and publicly traded real estate) that contributed materially to returns. "Real assets ' were up about 40% in 2025," the presenter said, and also pointed to a 7% return for fixed income in 2025.
Looking ahead to 2026, the presenter said Brinker would likely trim domestic large-cap exposure, increase allocations to small- and mid-cap stocks, maintain international positions (both developed and emerging markets) and consider adding infrastructure and energy investments to the real-assets allocation. The representative emphasized a long-term posture and cautioned against overconcentration in recent AI-driven winners: "we're not going to get carried away in that growth," the presenter said.
Board members thanked the presenters for the work and noted an administrative transition: the plan's administration moved to First State Trust during the year and the presenter said pension disbursements ran smoothly after the change. Commissioners and staff noted the plan was previously in a significant unfunded position and praised steps taken to improve funding; one commissioner summarized current funding as approaching roughly 110%'to'12% funded in recent internal checks.
The retirement board carried routine motions to read and approve minutes and closed the retirement session after the presentation. No formal policy vote or change to plan benefits was taken at the meeting.
