VRS Reports 9.9% Return, Tops $122 Billion Market Value
RICHMOND August 20, 2025 -The Virginia Retirement System today reported a 9.9% return, net of fees, for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2025. The strong return surpassed the actuarially assumed return of 6.75% and pushed the fund to a record high of $122.8 billion in market value.
Through changing market conditions, the System’s performance reinforces the value of our disciplined long-term investment strategy,
said A. Scott Andrews, chair of the VRS Board of Trustees. The entire VRS team is focused daily on securing the future of Virginia’s teachers, first responders and state and local employees as they plan for retirement.
Andrew Junkin, VRS’ chief investment officer, said the fund’s total performance met or exceeded board-established custom benchmarks for the one-, five- and 10-year periods.
This year, strong returns in public equities led the way, and all of our asset classes and programs generated positive returns,
Junkin said. The diversification built into the plan and our long-term strategic allocation worked as intended amid plenty of market volatility and economic uncertainty.
VRS’ investment team actively manages the portfolio, accruing savings that add to the pool to pay benefits to Virginia public employees, said Andrews. VRS investment professionals have added $7.1 billion over the past decade that would not be realized by managing a passive, indexed portfolio,
he said.
FY 2025 Performance by Asset Class
Major asset classes within VRS’ portfolio performed as follows:
- Public equity program returned 17.8%
- Private equity program returned 5.7%
- Real assets program returned 3.7%
- Credit strategies program returned 9.1%
- Diversifying strategies returned 3.6%
- Private investment partnerships returned 8.8%
- Fixed income program returned 6.9%
View VRS’ investment strategy and performance reports.