Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management

Michael G. Trotsky, Executive Director and Chief Investment Officer of Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management (MassPRIM), was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award from #TheAllocator by With Intelligence on October 17.  'The Allocator' recognized Trotsky for building the Massachusetts state retirement fund into "one of the country’s best public investment operations over nearly 15 years of service,” according to Leanna Orr, editor of the publication and one of the Allocator Awards ceremony hosts. MassPRIM Investment Committee Member Mike Even introduced Trotsky at the ceremony. “Mike’s vision has always been clear: for PRIM to be considered the best, for the employees to be fantastic, for the workplace to be supportive and enjoyable, for our track record to be superb, for our portfolio to reflect our constant strive to innovate and improve, and for our decision-making to be disciplined and consistent,” Even said. He cited Project SAVE, an initiative that nets #MassPRIM $300 million annually, and the enhancement of MassPRIM's internal risk capabilities as examples of Trotsky’s leadership. In accepting the award, Trotsky attributed his success at MassPRIM to four elements: 1) MassPRIM’s ability to attract and retain top expert talent; 2) PRIM staff doing their own thinking; 3) the establishment of a culture of innovation; 4) MassPRIM’s autonomous investment authority put in place by a strong board led by the chair, state Treasurer Deborah Goldberg. Trotsky used the example of building the Portfolio Completion Strategies asset class from, among other investments, Separately Managed Accounts, as an example of successful innovation at MassPRIM.  “I’ve learned new skills, new asset classes, and it’s a never-ending experience. I’ve grown by identifying talents and weaknesses that I never knew I had,” Trotsky said. “To assemble and work with this great team and share in their successes is the greatest pride in my professional career.”

Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management was pleased with this recognition by Institutional Investor of #MassPRIM's Bill C. Li, CFA, CAIA. Bill oversees our Portfolio Completion investment strategies. He joined MassPRIM in 2016. #allocation #assetallocation #investment #pensionfund #assetmanagement

Our co-investment program has created significant cost efficiency for the #MassPRIM PRIT Fund.

We are pleased to announce that the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) of the United States and Canada has awarded the "Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting" to the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Trust Fund for the comprehensive financial report covering the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023. It is the 19th consecutive year in which MassPRIM has received this recognition. The #MassPRIM report has been judged by an impartial panel to meet the high standards of the program, which includes demonstrating a constructive "spirit of full disclosure" to clearly communicate its financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the report.  This program was established by #GFOA to encourage state and local governments to go beyond the minimum requirements of generally accepted accounting principles and to prepare annual reports that demonstrate the spirit of transparency and full disclosure.  The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment. #financialreporting #pensionfunds #investment #investmentmanagement #accounting #transparency

Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management today announced that the PRIT Fund ended Fiscal Year 2024 (June 30, 2024) with a record balance of $105.3 billion. This surpassed the previous high of $96.6 billion recorded for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023. The PRIT Fund returned 9.9% (9.5% net) for a net gain of $9.1 billion in FY '24, with five of the seven asset classes outperforming their benchmarks. #MassPRIM staff researched and deployed $6.6 billion in new investments during the year. "This $105.3 billion record balance reflects the execution of a pragmatic focused strategy combined with excellent internal evaluation and analysis capabilities in both up and down markets," said State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg, Chair of the MassPRIM Board. “The people who depend on us, the more than 300,000 beneficiaries, should feel secure in knowing they have gotten outstanding performance from this tremendous group who work at PRIM.” In addition to winning a number of external awards, honors, and certifications, #MassPRIM achieved these milestones with zero staff departures during fiscal 2024. MassPRIM has been able to attract and retain some of the best talent in the highly competitive investment management field.

Michael G. Trotsky, Executive Director and Chief Investment Officer of Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management (#MassPRIM), has been selected to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Allocator newsletter - a publication of With Intelligence, which produces investment data and analysis. In announcing the Lifetime Achievement Award - which will be officially presented during #TheAllocatorPrizes ceremony on October 17 - the newsletter's editors called MassPRIM “a beacon of public service and investment prowess" for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Allocator called Trotsky "a too-rare example of a successful transplant from the private sector into U.S. public asset management.” Trotsky's strong performance in professionalizing #MassPRIM during more than 14 years of leadership, by attracting star talent and retaining top staff, were also cited. “The stability of the organization under Michael’s leadership has been exceptional. We’ve seen the assets go from $40 billion to more than $100 billion, and the size of the staff grow. It has been highly professionalized," MassPRIM Board member Robert Brousseau said, in comments for The Allocator announcement. #WithIntelligence and #TheAllocator also lauded MassPRIM as "one of the country's best public investment operations" during Trotsky's tenure. "Michael Trotsky’s exceptional leadership encourages a strong culture of collaboration, with a drive towards excellence, resulting in MassPRIM being recognized across the entire industry,” said state treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg, chair of the MassPRIM board. "He has demonstrated a strong commitment to innovation, efficiency, and outstanding investment management, which directly benefits all public employees, retirees, and their families. Michael is extremely deserving of this honor."

Portfolio returns from the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management #PRITFund surged during the final quarter of 2023 and performed strongly for the full calendar year. This performance by #MassPRIM brought the PRIT Fund to $101 billion in total assets at the end of December 2023. For the December quarter, the PRIT Fund was up 6.2% gross (6.1% net). For the calendar year 2023, the PRIT Fund was up 11.4% gross (11.0% net.) This return equates to a net investment gain of $10 billion.

Diverse investment managers now oversee more than $11 billion in assets for Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management's PRIT Fund. That's over 11% of the Fund's total assets, and it builds on $4.4 billion the PRIT Fund had invested before the passage of Investment Equity Legislation in 2021, through Treasurer Deb Goldberg’s leadership.   The legislation established a goal of placing 20% of the PRIT Fund's assets with diverse investment managers, and reducing barriers for diverse managers in the investment field.   Since 2021, PRIM has allocated or committed more than $6.7 billion dollars to diverse investment managers. That increase reflects the work of MassPRIM’s FUTURE Initiative - our strategic plan to achieve the legislation's goals and to position PRIM as a leader in improving diversity in the asset management industry. In addition, the PRIT Fund has now allocated $590 million dollars to emerging-diverse managers as part of our $1 billion Emerging-Diverse Manager Program.   MassPRIM was a founding signatory to the CFA Institute’s DEI Code for the Investment Profession, and we continue to champion this Code for the industry. PRIM also ranks eighth among the largest 200 U.S. funds for assets managed by diverse managers, well above our rank in total asset size.   Our FUTURE Initiative continues to earn recognition. In 2023, the Private Equity Women Investor Network (PE-WIN) recognized PRIM as a “Limited Partner of the Year” for “empowering women in private equity” – reflecting not only the efforts of our FUTURE Initiative, but also the strong leadership presence of women on PRIM’s own PE team.