Largest funds come out ahead in volatile year The 1,000 largest U.S. retirement funds emerged from the year ended Sept. 30 with healthy coffers, despite a period marred by bouts of historic stock market losses and volatility. During the year ended Sept. 30, retirement funds saw their assets grow 6.6% to $12.09 trillion, in comparison to the previous year when assets of the 1,000 largest funds grew by only 3%, results from Pensions & Investments' annual surveys show. Over the five years ended Sept. 30, assets in this universe grew 36.7%, up from $8.84 trillion. Jonathan Pliner, the New York-based U.S. head of delegated portfolio management at Willis Towers Watson PLC, noted that retirement funds having largely weathered historic lows in the stock market was "not entirely surprising … given the speed with which markets rebounded" in the second quarter of 2020 following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.