Public pension plan losses from bank failures seen as minor

By GEOFF MULVIHILL
Associated Press

The failures of two U.S. banks this month meant losses for U.S. public-sector pension systems that invested in them. Experts don’t see the holdings in Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank as especially risky for the funds, which provide retirement incomes for teachers, firefighters and other public workers. But there are worries that the funds have too many risky holdings. More aggressive investing is one way funds have narrowed funding gaps over the last decade. After years of benefit increases and funding contribution cuts in the early 2000s, funds were hit hard by the 2008 financial crisis.