New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli today announced the New York State Common Retirement Fund was valued at an estimated $160 billion and earned about a 10 percent rate of return on its investments for the fiscal year ending March 31.
The state pension fund has reached a milestone, DiNapoli said in a news release.
“The fund ended the fiscal year at an estimated $160.4 billion, an all-time high, and it remains well positioned for growth as the financial markets continue to gain strength,” DiNapoli said.
It is the third-largest public pension fund in the country.
Fiscal year 2014-2015 will be the final year that employer-contribution rates will reflect the market loss of 2008 and 2009, DiNapoli added.
Funston Advisory Services LLC, a Bloomfield Hills, Mich.–based risk-advisory firm, in February completed an independent review that determined that New York’s fund “operates with an industry-leading level of transparency and invests effectively on behalf of its members,” the state comptroller’s office said.
The New York state and local-retirement system provides benefits to more than 1 million state and local-government employees, retirees, and beneficiaries.
Over the last 20 years, investment returns have funded about 82 percent of benefit costs, according to the state comptroller’s office.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com