Largest Public Pensions Face $2 Trillion Hole, Moody’s Says

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The 25 largest U.S. public pensions face about $2 trillion in unfunded liabilities, showing that investment returns can’t keep up with ballooning obligations, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

The 25 biggest systems by assets averaged a 7.45 percent return from 2004 to 2013, close to the expected 7.65 percent rate, Moody’s said in a reportBloomberg Terminal released today. Yet the New York-based credit rater’s calculation of liabilities tripled in the eight years through 2012, according to the report.