>> I mean, the comparison should be against the stock market, not high grade corporate bonds. A pension fund has ongoing annual liabilities, so they cannot inv

>> I mean, the comparison should be against the stock market, not high grade corporate bonds. A pension fund has ongoing annual liabilities, so they cannot invest a majority of their assets into the stock market because they cannot afford to suddenly lose 40% of their assets. That is why they are usually spread across asset classes and have a lot in corporate debt (which are providing more than US Gov debt, but have higher returns are almost never suddenly lose 30% or 40% value across the board.)