Report: Lombard Firefighters Pension Fund lost $2,303,673 in investment income in 2018
After projecting its investments would grow by 6.5 percent, the Lombard Firefighters Pension Fund lost 4.1 percent on its investments in 2018, according to data reported to the Illinois Department of Insurance Pension Division.
The DOI biennial report detailing the health of each of the pension funds shows the Lombard Firefighters Pension Fund's had $58,477,798 in investment assets last year. It paid $103,620 in investment expenses and lost $2,303,673 in investment income.
Pension funds and retirement systems set actuarial assumptions to project returns on investments to cover obligations to pensioners. When they fall short, the difference has to be made up from other sources – primarily from taxpayers and member contributions.
Lombard Firefighters Pension Fund investment performance
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investment assets | $52,012,027 | $51,942,403 | $54,249,564 | $60,991,833 | $58,477,798 |
| Investment expenses | $91,126 | $93,264 | $93,829 | $100,970 | $103,620 |
| Investment income | $2,734,628 | $291,042 | $2,818,435 | $7,278,141 | -$2,303,673 |
| Net investment income to assets | 5.1 | 0.4 | 5 | 11.8 | -4.1 |
| Actuarial assumption | 6.8 | 6.8 | 6.8 | 6.5 | 6.5 |