New York Pension Posts Lowest Return Since Recession

The New York Common Retirement Fund generated a 0.19% return in fiscal year 2015-16, the lowest ROI since 2009.

The New York State Common Retirement Fund said that its non-US equities dropped about 8.54% from last year whereas their domestic equity investment lost .54% over the same time frame. These trends were in-line with the drop in the US and global equity markets.

More on the news at Reuters:

New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said that despite weak equity markets, the fund’s diversified portfolio and investment team delivered a positive return.

“We continue to have confidence in our asset allocation for the long term,” DiNapoli said. “Our investment team is focused on ensuring we remain one of the best funded and top performing plans in the country.”

The losses in equity investments for fiscal 2016 were offset by gains in investments in fixed-income, private equity, opportunistic alternatives and real estate.

[…]

The nation’s largest public pension fund, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, on Monday forecast flat returns for its current fiscal year, ending June 30.

Calpers’ chief investment officer, Ted Eliopoulos, said returns would “likely to be flat, which is a nice way of saying zero.”