13-06-2025
The Florida Pension Fund Managers Who've Beaten the S&P 500 Over 50 Years
Unlike most other US public retirement plans of its size, the Tampa Fire & Police Pension Fund doesn't invest in hedge funds, private equity or private credit. It doesn't hire consultants to help it pick outside managers. Instead, for the past 50 years, its investments in stocks and bonds have been overseen by a single manager, Bowen, Hanes & Co., a nine-person firm led by Harold 'Jay' Bowen III. In short, Tampa and Bowen Hanes do one thing, and the rest of the institutional world does something else.
Consider the Tampa fund's performance, though. It racked up a 32.2% return in the fiscal year ended in September. 'Fiscal 2024 was—not only was it our 50th year, it was the best year the plan's ever had,' says Bowen, 63. The return was good enough to rank the Tampa plan as the best performer for the period in the Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service's database of plans with more than $1 billion in assets under management. Tampa was also No. 1 for 3, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40 years.
