RALEIGH, N.C. -- Rebounding stock markets helped boost returns for North Carolina's public employee pension funds during the third quarter.

State Treasurer Janet Cowell said Monday the retirement systems recorded a 10.4 percent increase during the three months ending Sept. 30.

The uptick means pension assets grew for the quarter from $60 billion to almost $66 billion. That's still below the high of $77 billion at the end of 2007.

The North Carolina Retirement Systems benefited from a 17.6 percent increase in its equity portfolio. Cowell said bonds reported a nearly 6 percent increase, but real estate had an 8 percent loss.

Cowell's office invests pension funds for more than 820,000 public workers and retirees in North Carolina, including teachers and state employees.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@