Oregon Public Broadcasting

After the sharp decline of Washington Mutual stock, and the government bail-out of ‘Fannie Mae’ and ‘Freddie Mac,’ some Oregonians might be worried about their pension funds. Kristian Foden-Vencil checked on the state’s PERS fund.

State Treasurer, Randall Edwards, says Oregon’s public pension system is fine.

While it lost the equivalent of $50 million  in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stock, it gained $34 million dollars in Fannie and Freddie bonds.

Edwards says Oregon PERS doesn’t own any Washington Mutual stock.

Randal Edwards: “For us, we’re really invested in many many different sectors and in fact our exposure here is very, very, very small. So, that diversification mitigates any risks that might be seen as a big problem for other investors.”

Edwards says Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac holdings only make up .2 percent of the total PERS fund.

Since its inception, PERS has seen an average 12 percent annual gain. But recent market turbulence, means it’s lost about 6 percent so far this year.