New York Pension Declines After Quarter of Weak Investment Returns

The value of New York’s Common Retirement Fund dipped in the third quarter, from a record-high $180 billion to $178 billion.

The decline comes from weak investment returns over the last three months; in the case of the pension fund’s portfolio, the issue was underperformance of U.S. equities.

From News 10:

New York’s pension fund for government workers reports a decline to $178.3 billion following a negative return of less than 1 percent in its latest quarter.

Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, the fund’s trustee, says investor “challenges” in the quarter ending Sept. 30 followed a “robust” previous quarter when the fund reached a record $180.7 billion.

It has about 38 percent of assets in domestic stocks, 17 percent in international stocks, 27 percent in cash, bonds and mortgages, 8 percent in private equity, 7 percent in real estate and the rest in other investments.

DiNapoli says Wednesday some gains were offset by underperforming U.S. stocks and global central bank actions that made international markets volatile.

For the fiscal year that ended March 31, the fund reported a 13 percent return on investment.

The Common Retirement Fund manages assets for New York’s Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) and Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS).