A global pandemic in its second year, historically strong equity markets and a new occupant in the White House dominated headlines during the past year, while the return of inflation and regulatory and legislative changes were also among Pensions & Investments’ top 10 stories of 2021.

The top story this year — chosen by P&I’s editors — is the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. As it lagged on, a historic market recovery spurred in part by actions taken to prevent an economic crisis, brought about record returns for many public pension funds and university endowments. Other big stories of the year included newly elected President Joe Biden and his administration working to reverse the policies of former President Donald Trump, the return of inflation for the first time in decades, new legislation intended to boost Americans’ retirement savings, asset owners taking more ESG-related action than ever after years of education efforts, and a litany of changes in the top positions at some of the largest pension funds and endowments in the country.

When a coronavirus outbreak emerged at the end of 2019 and markets suffered a precipitous dive in March 2020, with many fearing the worse was yet to come, no one imagined in the span of less than 18 months, public pension funds and university endowments would find themselves reporting historically high investment returns.

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