Advisor: strong 2025 returns lift Simsbury pension and OPEB plans; one fund placed on watch

Fiducient Advisors reviewed market results and the status of Simsbury’s pension and OPEB portfolios, reporting strong investment performance for calendar 2025 and modest revisions to expected long-term returns.

Kate Pizzi, filling in for the town’s advisor, said 2025 was the first year since 2009 that international stocks outperformed domestic stocks while returns were broadly strong: international equities +30%, U.S. large-cap +17%, and fixed income +7% for the year. She reported the pension portfolio returned about 14% in 2025 (ten-year annualized ~7.4%) and the OPEB plan returned about 16.3% (ten-year annualized ~8%). "We do want exposure to this area of the market, but we also want to temper that exposure due to the risk," Pizzi said referring to artificial-intelligence-related concentration in a handful of large U.S. companies.

Fiducient set the pension expected return at 7.1% (down slightly from 7.2 the prior year) and noted the OPEB assumptions are similar but with a slightly higher allocation to fixed income. The advisor flagged one active fund for further discussion and placed another on watch; the board asked whether the monitoring relates to manager teams or investment selections, and Fiducient said they track both.

The consultant team also reviewed defined-contribution and deferred-compensation plan balances (457 plan ~$21 million; Board of Education DC plan ~$2.5 million; 401(a) ~$2.6 million), fiduciary governance calendar items, and pending regulatory topics affecting plan vehicles. The Board asked staff to confirm the fiduciary for the BOE DC plan and to follow up on participant education services provided by MissionSquare.

The discussion was informational; no changes to the town’s investment policy statement were recommended at the meeting.