The Oregon Investment Council met on Oct. 21 to review annual investment performance, finding that two major state funds beat or met their performance benchmarks in recent periods.
The Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund's Diversifying Strategies portfolio achieved an 8.3% return in the year ending Aug. 31, 2026, meeting its benchmark. Over the previous three and five years, the portfolio generated annualized returns of 7.5% and 8.8%, beating its benchmark by 0.3 and 3.6 percentage points respectively.
The State Accident Insurance Fund (SAIF), Oregon's not-for-profit workers' compensation insurer valued at $4.6 billion as of June 30, 2026, also outperformed its benchmark across one-, three-, five- and 10-year periods.
The council received a benchmark analysis from consultant Aon Investments examining how the state evaluates investment performance. The review noted that measuring private equity portfolios on a short-term basis, such as monthly or annual periods, is not appropriate because the long-term nature of such investments makes these metrics unreliable for assessing performance.
"Our commitment to portfolio diversification within OPERF continues to pay dividends throughout different market cycles and support the fund's long-term objectives," Oregon State Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner, MD, said.
The Oregon Investment Council is a six-member board responsible for setting investment policy for OPERF and other state funds. Its next meeting is scheduled for Dec. 2, 2026.